Mentor and Protege
by jcarreau
Summary: The bonds of the past forge the paths of the future. This is true of everywhere, Gensokyo included. See how Marisa Kirisame, Reimu Hakurei, and Alice Margatroid became who they are today.
1. Chapter 1

[Author's Foreword: This is my interpretation of the PC-98 era of the Touhou games. It's about the relationship between Mima and Marisa, as well as Shinki and Alice. There are other characters, but it is mostly focused on those four. However, keep in mind, while this is connected to my Touhou Fanfiction About Nothing series, Mentor and Protege is not a straight-up comedy either. There will be genuine moments of drama in this. Also, keep in mind, I have had the chance to play the PC-98 Touhou games on an emulator, but I didn't get very far on any of them, (and I couldn't get the emulator to work properly, anyways) so whatever I couldn't extract from canon, I filled in with my own fanon. Enjoy.]

There was a sanctuary of sorts for the humans of Gensokyo. This sanctuary was a village appropriately known as "Human Village." It was here that the humans gathered to live, and to protect themselves from the youkai. Though youkai vastly outnumber humans, the average human was stronger than the average youkai, and a whole town of humans could stave off any youkai foolish enough to enter the village, thinking it could "snack" on one of the humans.

Many humans of Gensokyo know basic magic. Not all humans, but many of them know basic danmaku attacks, in case youkai come running in. However, most humans don't strive to become incredibly gifted in magic. Then again, most humans are not like Marisa Kirisame.

Marisa was the only daughter of a husband and wife who lived as peasants in the human village. Marisa herself was considered "cute" by human standards; her hair was blonde, her eyes were a light shade of brown, and, being a child of seven, she was short and tiny. She was a student at the local school, and at school, she had learned a talent that turned her into who she is today; the talent of reading. However, books on academia did not interest her in the slightest; books on magic did. Only problem was none of the books in her school were about magic. She had to go to the village's library to get books on magic. However, the librarian wouldn't let her read any books that could teach her how to do "dangerous" magics. This did not stop her. She had developed techniques for "borrowing" books from the library and reading them in secret. Although she could not understand most of the words in the books about magic, they fascinated her like nothing else in the world. Shoot fireballs out of the palm of your hand! Fly high in the sky on your very own broomstick! Move so fast, the world around you slows down! The pictures in the book fired up her imagination. It was around this time that she had decided on what she wanted to do with her life; become a witch.

Marisa didn't know anything about actually doing magic herself. She didn't know how to levitate, didn't know how to shoot danmaku, didn't know how to create potions, didn't know how to manipulate fate. She knew that if she was going to become a witch, she'd had to start from the bottom up. Using the best of her reading skills, she had copied the ingredients for a magic potion down. Late one night, she snuck out of her bedroom and went to somewhere just outside the village. She was now in a forested area, only able to see because she had a jar with fireflies on her. She was looking for a kind of mushroom that grows just outside the village. As she looked around, a voice called out to her, "Why hello!" Marisa jumped up in fright, and let out a yelp of panic. She had been followed! She looked to see who it was. She saw what looked like an adult woman, one who was clearly visible, even in the dead of night. This woman had long green hair, and matching green eyes. She was wearing a blue cap with yellow trim and a white ribbon attached to it. She had a blue vest, one with white sleeves and a blue cape attached to it, as well as a blue collar. She also was wearing a long blue skirt with yellow trim on the edges.

Marisa, not wanting to be impolite, responded, "Uh, hello."

The woman, speaking in a confident manner, asked, "What are you doing so late in the night all by yourself, child?"

Marisa, still scared, managed to reply, "Um, looking for things so I can make my potion." Marisa just noticed something else about this woman; she had a translucent blue tail coming out of where her legs should have been. When she saw then, she stammered, "Look! You have no legs! You must be a ghost!"

The woman suddenly winced at the comment. She chided, "I'm _not_ a ghost!" She looked away and added, "I just don't have any legs at the moment." and then muttered under her breath, "Not that it matters, since now I have greater mobility than ever before." She then turned to Marisa and said once again in her confidence, "So, why would you want to make a potion so much?"

When asked this, Marisa lost all fear. She smiled a wide smile and exclaimed, "I wanna be a witch!"

The woman looked quizzically at the girl, "Really? You, a witch? Dressed like that?" Marisa was wearing black pajamas and her black shoes.

Marisa stated, "Um . . . these are just my jammies. I won't have a real witch outfit until I'm ready."

The woman then said, "Well if you're gonna become a witch, you should be more presentable, like me!"

Marisa's eyes widened. Her mouth was wide open. She asked, "Huhǃ? You're a witchǃ?"

The woman responded, "What? You've never heard of me? Of course I'm a witch!"

Marisa said, "Oh. Well I've never heard of you, so I didn't know you were a witch."

The woman looked away and said to herself, "Hmm. Seems I haven't made much of an impression yet. Oh well, I guess I could tell you." She then looked at Marisa and boasted, "Then again, you were bound to hear of me sooner or later, for you see," she made a dramatic pose and shouted, "I am The Great Mima!"

Marisa smiled widely. She yelled, "Hi The Great Mima! I'm Marisa Kirisame!"

Mima corrected, "No child. It's just Mima. 'The Great' is merely a title, though a very accurate title." She then smiled and asked, "So Marisa, you wanna become a witch?"

"Uh huh!"

"I could teach you lots of things, things they don't print in books."

"Reallyǃ? Like, really reallyǃ?" Marisa asked, more exuberant than ever.

"Yes I can! Why, if I were to teach you a tenth of what I know, you would become a most extraordinary witch!" Mima told the blonde child.

"Wow!" Marisa responded.

"However," Mima started, "This isn't an appropriate place to be learning magic. I won't be able to give you any lessons right now."

Marisa became distraught, "Huh? But why not? I wanna learn magic now!"

Mima commanded, "Patience, dearest. I'm formulating a plan right now."

Marisa asked, "What does formulating mean?"

Mima didn't answer. Instead, she made gestures with her hands, causing a piece of paper to materialize in front of her. She pointed her index finger at the paper, moving her finger like it was a pen. When she finished, she gave the paper to Marisa and said, "Here are instructions for when and where to meet me. Follow them if you want to learn more about witchcraft. However," Mima paused, going for dramatic effect, "There are two conditions you must follow. One, do not tell anyone about me, what you are doing, and what you learn from me. Two, do not let anyone see that slip of paper. In fact, burn it after you've memorized the instructions."

Marisa answered, "Okay!" She then asked, "How come I can't do those things you don't want me to do?"

Mima suddenly formed a wicked grin and stated, "If anyone finds out about me or you learning witchcraft, bad luck will fall upon you."

"Oh no! Bad luck! That's bad!" Marisa reassured.

Mima chuckled and added, "Indeed!" Then she concluded, "Well, I best be going now. It was nice meeting you, but I have errands to run. Bye!" And with that, she disappeared, literally.

"Bye, The Great Mima!" Marisa shouted. She then realized, "Oh no! It's dark again!" Then she glanced at her jar, "Except for these fireflies!" Realizing that trying to make a potion out of mushrooms was pointless, Marisa made her way back to her home, without anyone noticing.


	2. Chapter 2

The instructions Mima gave Marisa said to meet her in two days. So for two days, Marisa went about her usual business. Only thing different was that her mind was ablaze. _I met a real witch! She could make herself glow, write with her finger, and float! And I'm gonna learn all those things! I'm gonna become a real witch! _She could hardly contain her excitement; she was smiling more than usual, and was filled with more giddiness than is considered normal for a seven year old girl.

Two nights after her initial encounter with Mima, Marisa snuck out of her house again. The first instruction said, "Go first to the south entrance of the Human Village." She did so. She had her jar of fireflies with her again.

"Do you honestly have to rely on bugs in order to see in the dark?" A voice asked from behind. Marisa turned around to find Mima, still in her colorful costume, and still giving off light, although not as much as the first night.

Marisa's eyes widened, "Mi-"

"Quiet!" Mima whispered, putting her fingers on Marisa's lips to signify the need to be silent. "We can't be seen. Now follow me, quietly."

Marisa nodded. She figured out why Mima wasn't shining as brightly. The green-haired woman led the blonde girl down the points she had laid out in her instructions. (The locations were mainly odds-and-ends that looked out of place: a pile of logs out in the middle of nowhere, an abandoned carriage, those sorts of things.) Mima stated, "You don't know how to produce light without a torch yet. That's why I came to guide you."

"That's very nice of you, Mima!" Marisa replied.

"Nice? Uh, yeah." Mima said, confused. She continued, "I wouldn't be a very good mentor if I let my student get lost on her first night."

"I know! And that's what's so nice!"

Mima winced when Marisa said she was "nice," for the second time in a row. As such, she grabbed the jar Marisa was holding, "Hey! Those are mine!" Marisa protested. Mima unscrewed the top, and the fireflies flew off into freedom. Marisa was now infuriated, "Why did ya do that forǃ? How will I get home without themǃ?"

Mima said confidently, "Simple. When you're finished tonight, you'll be able to see in the dark without the need for bugs." She then commanded, "Come with me, if you want to know how."

Marisa calmed down slightly, "Okay, but no more mean stuff!" Mima chuckled and led the way.

They came by another one of the points in the instructions; a road sign. Marisa glanced at the road sign. She was able to read it, but only one item caught her interest:

"Hakurei Shrine: 3 Kilometers East."

"Hakurei Shrine, that's where the Boundary is, right?" Marisa said aloud.

"Correction: that's where the Boundary is maintained. The actual Boundary exists all around the edge of Gensokyo. The Shrine is just there to keep it in place."

"Reallyǃ?" Marisa asked enthusiastically.

"Yes, really." Mima said. "You don't really know much about magic, do you?"

Marisa said, "Um, I know magic lets you do cool stuff!"

"But, you don't really know how to _use_ magic, don't you?"

Marisa held her head down in shame and uttered, "No."

Mima then pointed out, "By the way, you're still wearing your black pajamas."

"Oh! Sorry!" Apologized Marisa.

"I'm sure you'll find yourself an appropriate costume soon enough." They then came to the last stop on Mima's instructions; a tree stump standing out in a small field of grass. The green-haired woman remarked, "Well, this is it!"

"Wow!" Marisa exclaimed with child-like enthusiasm, "You live in a tree stumpǃ?"

Mima frowned and answered, "Uh, no. Besides, this place isn't my real home. This is just where I go when I want to sharpen my magical powers. And it'll be where you will learn how do to magic! But first," she held out her right hand, with fingers spread, "we need to open the way." At that moment, the top of the stump disappeared, opening the way down.

Mima grabbed Marisa. The blonde girl was startled, "Hey! What are you doingǃ?"

Mima smiled and said, "You won't learn magic if you don't jump in!"

"I said no more mean stuff!" Marisa yelled.

Mima then dropped Marisa into the stump, "In you go!"

Marisa screamed, falling for a long ways down. Then she stopped falling. Her body felt weightless. At this moment, her breath had been taken away. She was in what looked like the night sky; every direction, as far as she could see, was a midnight blue field filled with stars of all colors. "Whoa." Marisa murmured. Her eyes were wide open in amazement, and her lower jaw had dropped completely. Mima had floated down to the right of her. She asked with awe, "Where _are_ we?"

Mima, eyes closed and still smiling, happily said, "We're in the World of Dreams!"


	3. Chapter 3

"The World of Dreams?" Marisa asked in an astonished tone of voice.

"That's correct." Answered Mima, who, unlike Marisa, did not appear impressed by the sight of the stars that lay before her. She continued, "This is the realm that exists between the demon world, and the surface world from where you were born."

"It's not like anything I've ever seen!" Marisa said ecstatically.

"Indeed!" Mima began speaking in a different tone of voice, "Now then, this is an ideal location to learn magic, for this dimension is made from the dreams of all living beings, and thus, is chock full of the spiritual energy needed to perform magic. Now then, learning magic is your dream, correct?"

"Correct!"

"And you said you wanted to be a witch, right?" Mima asked.

"Not just any witch," Marisa replied, "The bestest, awesomest witch in the history of ever!"

"I see." Mima continued, "Now, answer me this; what is the most important spell for a witch?"

Marisa enthusiastically answered, "To fly on a broomstick!"

"Of course!" Mima responded, "However, I'm gonna let you in on a secret; witches don't need broomsticks to fly."

Marisa was puzzled by what she heard, "Huh? But . . . that's how witches get around!"

"Ah, but you see," Mima said, "Witches _can_ fly, they just don't need brooms. Take me, for instance." Mima began circling around Marisa horizontally, as well as vertically. "I have no broomstick, and I move around just fine."

Marisa then questioned, "So, if witches can fly without broomsticks, then why do they still do it anyways?"

Mima responded, "Oh a number of reasons: sometimes, they channel magic through their broom, sometimes they have to whack a foe mid-flight, sometimes, witches carry a sack on their broom, I don't know, I never had use for something like that. Anyways, now try flying yourself."

"Uh, how?" Marisa asked.

"Figure it out yourself, knucklehead." Mima answered.

"Okay!" Marisa shouted, "Fly!" and spread her arms like how a bird spreads its wings. She didn't move. She then began moving her arms forward in a circular motion, like she was swimming through the air. She began moving through the empty space, albeit very slowly.

Mima commanded, "Stop. You're doing it wrong."

Marisa exclaimed, "Hey, you're right! I should probably kick my legs when I'm flying!"

Mima let out a frustrated sigh and pleaded, "No, just stop completely, and listen. You can't just force yourself to do magic. That's not how it works. To perform a spell, you have to do it, as if the spell itself were a part of you, a part of your body and soul. Don't force the magic out, let it come to you."

Marisa replied, "Um, I don't get it."

Mima frowned in anger and shouted, "You're not a human from outside the Boundary! And we're in a place chock full of spiritual energy! It's even easier to do magic here than on the surface! Just try! Try telling yourself, 'yes, I would like to fly, preferably right now!'"

Marisa noted, "Okay, so I don't force myself to fly. It sounds like you're saying that I should act like I already know how to fly, since that's a part of me."

"Yes!"

"Okay," Marisa continued, "so I know how to fly, and I want to move forward, and that should be that." As she said that, she noticed the starry pattern around her seemed to be . . . moving. She remarked, "Huh. The stars were sitting still until just now."

She heard Mima's voice shout something, but her voice was so faint. Was she saying, "sloooooow doooooown!"? Slow down what? Marisa turned around to see Mima far off in the distance. The woman in blue finally caught up, "Wow, you're fast! It's been such a long time since the last time I saw a human fly that fast!"

Marisa's eyes and mouth widened in astonishment, "Wait! I, flew just nowǃ?"

"Why of course!" Mima assured, "Didn't you notice the stars moving with you?"

Marisa murmured, "I, I can fly." She then yelled, "I CAN FLY!" She began flying all around Mima, continually shouting, "I'M FLYING!" "WHEEEEEEE!" and incessant giggling.

As the blonde girl was having the time of her life, Mima said to herself, "Oh yeah, that's right; human children have limitless energy. How could I forget such a thing?"

Right as she said that, Marisa stopped flying. She breathed a sigh, stating, "Whew! I'm really tired now."

Mima then caught up to her, thinking, "Oh, just my luck! There _is_ a limit to their stamina after all!" She then lectured, "you must've exhausted your magical supply. Don't worry, it'll replenish in a few moments. Next, I'm gonna teach you your next spell."

Suddenly, Marisa no longer looked exhausted, but rather, excited, "Oh yay! Another spell!"

Mima started, "Okay, first, shape your hand like you're holding something circular, like a ball." She demonstrated by holding her palm facing up, and curling her fingers upwards like she was carrying something round. "Now, imagine yourself holding a sphere of light, like this!" A yellow ball of light appeared in her hand. "This should help you see in the dark. Try it!"

Marisa imitated what she saw, "I gotta act like I know how to do the spell," she told herself. She managed to form a ball of light herself, albeit one much smaller than Mima's. Marisa was disappointed, "Aww! Mine's too tiny!"

Mima assured, "No it's not. It's still enough to light your way. Besides, when you get more experienced like me, you'll be able to do all sorts of things." She changed her tone, "Well, that wraps up today's lesson! You should be getting back home now."

This only made Marisa even more disappointed, "What! No fair! I'm not tired! Teach me more!"

Mima then said, "Marisa, magic is something that takes time and dedication to learn. Surely you already knew this; witches aren't born in a day." Marisa was looking away, pouting. Mima continued, "Look, I know what you're going through; the impetuousness, the burning desire to become more. You'll be able to learn more. However, you should be getting back home before you arouse any suspicion. Do you want your mom and dad to find out you snuck out?"

Marisa quietly replied, "No."

"There's a good girl!" Mima said with a smile. She then added, "Remember, I'll be here every third Friday of the month. Come whenever you feel like it, but only then." She flew up to Marisa and held her head, "Don't show off your magic to anyone, and don't tell anyone about me. This is all our little secret, okay?" She then made a gesture with her hand. They disappeared.

* * *

Mima poked her head out of a tree stump out in the middle of a field of grass, with Marisa right next to her. "Whoa! How'd we get back!" Marisa asked.

"Magic!" Mima said. "Now, let's see your light." Marisa formed a ball of light in her hand, which gave off a surprisingly bright glow despite its small size. "Very good!" Mima complimented, "You know your way back, so I'll just go back to the World of Dreams, okay?"

"Okay! Bye, Mima-sama!" Marisa said.

"Oh, Mima-sama! I like the sound of that!" Mima remarked. Marisa made her way back to the village, while Mima ducked back into the tree stump.

* * *

Seeing as how Marisa had finally left, and she was finally alone in the World of Dreams, Mima began laughing. "A ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! This is too perfect! I come to the human village to look for a meat shield, and one of them runs right into me! And swears absolute loyalty to me! And she's still just a child; easily manipulable!" She continued laughing in a boisterous manner. "Now, once she's learned the basics, I can finally start it; my plan to take over Gensokyo!" She continued laughing.


	4. Chapter 4

Months passed since Marisa first learned magic. Just as Mima said, she was there in the World of Dreams on the third Friday of every month, ready to teach her protege new magic. Marisa kept her lessons a secret from everyone in the village. However, she couldn't help but get a witch costume made for herself. She wouldn't normally wear it, but sometimes, she would put on her witch costume if she was feeling "witchy," (read: if it was the day before one of her training sessions with Mima.) Her family and friends commented on how "cute" she was when she was dressed as a witch. Marisa, however, was not concerned with cuteness; becoming a witch was her goal in life.

She had turned eight not long before the training session tonight. She came to the entrance of the World of Dreams wearing not black pajamas, but rather, a purple button-up dress with long big sleeves, complete with a purple pointy hat adorned with a yellow ribbon and the insignia of a crescent moon. She was now in the World of Dreams, floating in what seemed like vast, breathable space, and had spotted Mima, waiting for her as usual. "You made it!" Mima commented.

"But of course, Mima-sama!" was Marisa's answer. At this moment, normally Mima would begin enthusiastically demonstrating to Marisa how to perform a magic spell, and normally, Marisa would do her best in learning the spell, and what normally ensued was either Marisa picking up on the spell instantly and becoming overjoyed at her mastery of a new magic trick, or Marisa would not being able to perform the spell correctly, which would lead to Mima becoming infuriated by Marisa's lack of ability, and Marisa trying again and again until she finally figured it out, much to both of their collective relief.

This wasn't a normal time.

Mima looked more serious than usual when she said, "Marisa, there's something you need to know."

Marisa, hoping to learn another spell, asked, "What's that, Mima-sama?"

Mima continued, "I never told you where I came from, did I?"

"No."

Mima took in a deep breath. She stated, "You see Marisa, I come from the world beneath the World of Dreams."

Marisa gasped, "You mean!"

"That's right my apprentice; I am from what you humans call Hell."

Marisa was stunned by this revelation, "But, Mommy and Daddy, and the storekeeper, and Kamishirawa-sensei all say Hell is a bad place! That it's full of evil beings! Please don't tell me you're evil, Mima-sama!"

Mima, trying to come across as understanding, responded, "Many humans have misconceptions about Hell. The world of demons does have its share of malcontents, but not everyone from there is evil. I certainly am not."

Marisa breathed a sigh of relief, "Phew! I didn't think so! You've been so good to me!"

Mima, smiling, said, "Precisely! It's amazing how much a few rotten apples can really ruin the image of your home dimension." She then changed the subject, "However, there's something else you need to know. You remember the Hakurei shrine, right?"

"Uh huh!"

Mima continued, "Now it's true that the head shrine maiden of that shrine upholds the barrier, right? However, I must warn you of someone; the head maiden's ward."

"A ward?" Marisa asked.

"Yes. The current head of the Hakurei Shrine is senile, and is currently training the next in line to replace her. I met the future head of the Hakurei Shrine about a year ago. She's a girl about your age."

Marisa exclaimed, "Oh! A girl my age! That sounds like fun!" She was smiling at this thought.

Mima did not share Marisa's excitement, "Oh Marisa. If only you knew the truth."

"Huh?"

Mima then said, "That girl, she's no fun, not in the slightest sense of the word."

* * *

The world of demons. Hell. Reputably a very nasty place, full of demons and evil spirits. The Hell of Gensokyo was no different; it was a series of underground caverns filled with red and black stalactites and stalagmites, not to mention all sorts of demons, spirits, and other assorted evil beings. However, on one particular day, there was something out of place; a little human girl. She was wearing the traditional red-and-white robes of the Shinto Miko, as well as a large red ribbon in her hair. Her hair was long, reaching to the middle of her back, and it was so dark of a hue of brown, it was nearly black. Her eyes matched her hair. She was holding a gohei rod in her hands. She seemed to be wandering around aimlessly, until she came across what looked like a ghost dressed in blue and sporting green hair. Normally, children her age were carefree. The tone of this girl's voice was anything but, "You there! Did you wreck the shrineǃ?"

The spirit, dumbfounded, responded, "Me? Destroy a shrine? Whatever are you talking about? Are you from around here? You look like you're from the surface world."

The girl, ignoring the spirit's questions, continued, "You're a spirit of the demon world! You must be the one who did it!" She then performed a hand gesture. Two yin-yang orbs appeared to the side of her, and immediately fell to the ground. The child stated, "I must exercise you!"

"You mean, 'exorcize.'" The spirit intoned in a droll manner.

The girl replied, "Uh, yes! That's the word! Even if you didn't wreck the shrine, I must exorcize you, for it is my duty!" She then swung her gohei rod at one of the yin-yang orbs, sending it flying to the spirit.

The orb bounced off of the spirit, and returned back to the girl. The spirit was now in ghastly pain, "Ugh! You little brat! How _dare_ you barge into my realm and accuse me of things I had no hand in!" She then opened up her hands, causing blue flames to materialize above her palms, "Feel the scorn of a woman from Hell!"

* * *

"So she attacked you for no reason?" Marisa asked.

"I'm afraid so." Mima answered, with weight in her voice. "I had recovered from her attack, but I was left in pain for the longest time. I did learn something, though; I had asked her why she was exorcizing demons, and she told me it was her duty as a shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine. Right then, I knew, she wasn't like the other humans. I'm telling you this, for she will inevitably become an obstacle in the future."

Marisa questioned, "Obstacle?"

Mima continued, "Yes, an obstacle for plans I had. You see, I've been training you for something I've been meaning to do."

This piqued Marisa's curiosity, "Oh! Is it something big?"

"Yes," Mima responded, "Something very big." Mima now began giving what sounded like a prepared speech, "I have an ambition, a noble ambition, mind you. I plan to rule all of Gensokyo."

"Really?" Marisa asked.

"Yes." Mima continued speaking, "You see, there is something fundamentally wrong with Gensokyo, your homeland. Gensokyo is in a state of anarchy."

"A-Anarchy? What's that?" Marisa asked.

Mima answered, "Anarchy is a Greek word meaning something to the effect of 'no leadership.' Gensokyo has no unified ruler. There is no set of laws, nobody to maintain order, no one to protect the populace. Youkai of all shapes and sizes run rampant throughout Gensokyo, and humans live in dire fear of them. Merchants sell their wares without any regulation to speak of. And despite the best efforts of the Boundary, things still slip in and out of Gensokyo. It's all chaos. It's all madness, but I intend to put an end to it. If I take control of Gensokyo, I can establish order, restore peace, balance everything out. But there's a problem; not everyone is going to want me to rule Gensokyo. I am very powerful, but so are many of the people in this country. This is why I sought out a protege, and found you, Marisa. You will be my right hand girl. And when I become Gensokyo's rightful ruler, you will be the second-highest leader in this country, behind only me."

Marisa smiled a toothy smile and yelled, "Awesome!"

"Yes!" Mima replied, "We'll work together. No headstrong shrine maidens will stop us! We will save Gensokyo; _together!_"

"Alright!" Marisa shouted while pumping both of her clenched fists into the air.

"Alright, indeed!" Mima stated. "Now then, I won't teach you anything new today, but instead, I'll have you review. More specifically, we'll review your danmaku attacks."

"Yes! More danmaku!" Marisa shouted. Magic involving danmaku was a favorite of hers.

"But first," Mima interjected, "did you remember to bring it?"

"Of course!" Marisa answered. She pulled out a wand with a yellow five-pointed star on the tip. "A witch is not complete without a wand!" She then asked, "Say, if you're a witch, how are you able to do magic without a wand?"

Mima smiled and said, "I'm just that good!" She then commanded, "Now, demonstrate your most basic danmaku."

Marisa made a gesture with her wand. Many white spheres of energy shot out of her in random directions.

"Very good!" Mima noted. "But, you don't need your wand to shoot that danmaku. What was your other trick?"

"Oh! I know this one!" Marisa thought aloud. She made another wand gesture. Four orbs appeared around her, one red, one green, one purple, and one blue. The orbs orbited around her, shooting off many of the small white spheres in random directions.

"Excellent!" Mima complimented. "Now, your final trick."

"Okay!" Marisa made another gesture with her wand. A wave of yellow and green five-pointed stars shot around her within a larger radius than the white spheres. Mima had to move to dodge the onslaught of stars.

"Oh my! That's your best attack yet!"

Marisa stopped her magic. "So, how good am I?"

Mima said, "To be honest, your danmaku is very inaccurate. You just seem to randomly spray bullets in every which way, hoping one of them will hit their target. Then again, that's what danmaku is; a curtain of magical bullets. I think you're prepared for anyone who may oppose my new order." Mima changed the subject, "The next time we meet, I'll start taking the first steps to becoming Gensokyo's rightful ruler. Before you leave, do you want to ask any questions?"

"I have one," Marisa asked, "When we become the leaders of Gensokyo, will I be able to use my magic whenever I want, not just here and with you?"

Mima smiled sweetly and said, "Yes. I'll see to it that all young witches, yourself included, will be able to exercise their magic without fear of prejudice and retribution, but only within reason; we can't have people setting fire to the village with their magic, can we?"

"Oh no! Definitely not!" Marisa replied.

"Good!" Mima concluded, "Well, you should get going now; prepare for the big day!"

* * *

Mima was alone again, "I can't believe Marisa thinks me becoming ruler of Gensokyo is a good thing. Well, it _is_ a good thing, but only for me!" She began laughing in a boisterous manner once again, "Poor child doesn't realize that's she's not going to survive what I have in store for her!" She continued laughing.

[Author's note: In the PC-98 games, Reimu was depicted with purple eyes and hair. Also, in the second game, Story of Eastern Wonderland, Marisa was depicted with red hair. I am aware of this. However, I have a hard time picturing them with those colors schemes, and chose to describe them looking like how they do in the modern Touhou games.]


	5. Chapter 5

It was now the night that Mima was going to carry out her plan to become leader of Gensokyo. Marisa had snuck out of her bedroom to go to the World of Dreams as usual. As she went, she noticed something different; there were spirits flying everywhere on the way there. She saw white ghosts with red tongues sticking out, as well as spirits shaped like light purple orbs of light. Curiously, none of the spirits bothered her; they flew in every which way, but would always move away from Marisa. "Where are all of these ghosts coming from? Does it have something to do with Mima-sama wanting to rule Gensokyo?"

Marisa had come to the tree stump and entered the World of Dreams. Here also, the spirits were everywhere. She found Mima, "Mima-sama! Where are all of these ghosts coming fromǃ?"

Mima smiled and said, "I summoned them. They're my supporters." She then sounded more serious, "But now's not the time to boast about my abilities. Your training is about to be put to the test."

"Really?" Marisa asked.

"Yes. Do you remember the girl I told you about, the Hakurei shrine maiden? I can sense her presence here in the World of Dreams. No doubt she's come to interrupt my attempt to become the rightful ruler of Gensokyo once more. However! I have trained you for several months now; you should be at her skill level. Your job is to beat her in danmaku combat!"

"Alright!" Marisa shouted.

"But first," Mima reiterated, "We need to make an entrance."

* * *

The young shrine maiden girl that Mima described was indeed in the World of Dreams. She was riding on top of a turtle that could fly. The girl had two red-and-white yin-yang orbs to her side, which were shooting danmaku bullets at the spirits coming right for her. Unexpectedly, there was a lull in the spirits. Just then, the turtle said something, "I sense a great evil here."

"It's her." The girl remarked.

"Her? Who?" The turtle asked.

Right then, there was a blinding flash. The girl and the turtle shielded their eyes instinctively. When the flash dissipated, a woman with green eyes and hair, wearing a blue vest with blue cape and skirt appeared. She said, "Reimu Hakurei, what a surprise!"

Reimu remarked, "Mima! I should've known it was you!"

The turtle asked, "You know this woman, my lady?"

Reimu answered, "From my first youkai extermination, yeah."

Mima smiled and stated, "I see you figured out how to make your fabled orbs float properly; very impressive."

Reimu snapped, "Don't play nice! We know it's you sending all of these spirits to destroy the shrine! My aunt is up to her armpits from just protecting the place!"

Mima responded, "Your aunt? Is she the current head of your shrine? My, that's unfortunate; she sends her niece to do all the dirty work."

Reimu commanded, "Call off your spirits now!"

To which Mima coyly retorted, "Huh? There must be some sort of mistake. I didn't summon anything."

Reimu and the turtle could hear a faint voice say something like, "But Mima-sama, you told me that,"

Mima suddenly said, "I know that you prefer to solve problems through force, but I'm afraid I can't do that right now, for you see, I have more important business to attend to. I'll just leave you to my apprentice instead. Sayonara!"

With that, Mima disappeared in a bright flash of light, and was replaced with a blonde-haired girl in a purple witch costume. The girl made a wily grin and boasted, "I am Marisa Kirisame, student to The Great Mima! Give up now if you know what's good for you!"

Reimu responded, "Whether human or youkai, I back down from NO ONE!"

Marisa then pointed, "Is that so? Then why are you riding on a turtle? What's the matter? Can't fly on your own? Some miko you are!"

Reimu shouted, "YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"

Marisa shook her head, saying, "Nuh uh. Mima-sama said give up, and what she says is law in this dimension!" She then pulled out a wand with a 5-pointed star on the tip and waved it. White shots of energy shot forth.

The turtle shifted to the left, just barely avoiding the shots. Reimu exclaimed, "I don't have time for this!" She made a distinct gesture with her hands.

* * *

Mima had just teleported away from Reimu, leaving Marisa in her place. She was smiling with her eyes closed, thinking to herself, "Now all she has to do is keep her distracted long enough for me to destroy the shrine, and then,"

Before she could finish her train of thought, a loud noise interrupted her. Actually, it wasn't just any loud noise; it sounded like a bomb went off. Mima stopped smiling and opened her eyes, looking around, trying to see what could cause such a noise. When the sound died out, she could hear Marisa's voice far off in the distance, screaming, "Agh! Help!"

"Whatǃ?" Mima said aloud. "The miko disposed of Marisa _already__ǃ__? _Impossible! I trained her for months!"

Just then, Reimu and the turtle caught up to Mima. The red-and-white girl yelled, "I know it's you, Mima! Stop this already!"

"And what would happen if I refuse?" Mima asked.

Reimu replied, "Then I'll send you right back to Hell, where you belong!"

Mima coolly said, "Hmm. You seem eager for combat, yet again. And this time, not only are your orbs working correctly, you brought a pet turtle with you, too."

The turtle remarked, "My name is Genji, not 'pet turtle.' I am a servant to the Hakurei clan, and your attempt to defile the shrine with your spirits has made me and my masters most displeased."

"Yeah! Tell 'em, Genji!" Reimu shouted.

Mima made a faint smile, "Very well. If you're going to up the ante this time, I suppose I must respond in kind." Just then, there was a white flash. When the flash dissipated, Mima looked different; her vest and skirt disappeared, replaced with a long, elaborate blue dress with green and yellow stripes near the bottom. Two blue bat-like wings protruded from her shoulder blades. On top of that, Mima was now wielding a scepter with a crescent moon on one end. He scowled at Reimu and Genji, threatening, "Now _I_ will show you my true power!" She aimed the crescent end of her scepter at Reimu and Genji; four orbs shot out. They were red, blue, green, and purple in color. Genji floated laterally to his left, narrowly avoiding the orbs.

"Whoooooaaaaa!" Reimu shouted, desperately holding onto Genji's shell. "Well then, looks like I'll need to use my most potent magic again!" She made a gesture with her hands, like she was casting a spell. A large explosion of energy occurred near Mima, temporarily blinding all three participants of the duel. When the explosion ended, Mima was nowhere to be seen. "Yes! I made her disappear, just like that stupid wit-AGH!"

Right then, Reimu was knocked off of Genji and falling through empty space. Genji flew just in time to catch Reimu on his back. "Be careful, my lady! This is no ordinary foe!"

As he said that, Mima was in front of the two again. She started laughing, "A ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! I am no pushover! I will not fall like my apprentice!" Her tone suddenly changed, "Although I'm surprised you could survive me running through you with my staff."

Reimu retorted, "That is because I am special!"

Mima responded, "Really? Special enough for _this?_" She waved her scepter; numerous white orbs of light shot out, going right towards Reimu and Genji. Genji managed to avoid every shot through tricky maneuvering.

The turtle advised, "My lady, you should try shooting your divine power at her, and weaken her before you unleash another blast! I'll handle the evasion, you handle the firepower!"

"Got it!" Reimu affirmed. She fired o-fuda cards out of her hands directly at Mima, as well as blasts of energy from her yin-yang orbs. She managed to strike Mima a few times, although the spirit from Hell brushed off the shots like they were nothing.

Mima taunted, "O ho ho ho ho! That hurts! Why don't you try firing _real_ danmaku, like this!" She pointed her scepter at Reimu and Genji. This time, five-pointed stars, some of them yellow, some of them green, homed in on Genji. Genji again dodged the shots, although a few stars did graze him and Reimu. Reimu kept firing her danmaku at Mima.

At this time, Mima was firing the white orbs out of her scepter again, however, she didn't make any effort to move. She just fired the small orbs, while Reimu and Genji moved about and fired back. She began talking, almost like she was giving a prepared speech, "Reimu Hakurei, I must be up-front about something; I lie. I lie a lot. It's a habit of mine that I've been trying to quit for years. Moments ago, I said I was tapping into my fullest power. I lied. I'm still holding back my power. But, I see that you and your pet are more stubborn than I thought. I can't remember the last time a human from the surface gave me so much trouble, in the World of Dreams, no less! So, now, I won't hold back anything anymore." Right then, the wings on her back seemed to morph; they stretched up and down, taller than they were previously. Not only that, her wings were no longer bat-like, they were like the wings of a demon. Her wings had become slightly taller than she was, and now had enough span to enclose her. As this happened, the World of Dreams itself changed. The white stars on a midnight blue background gave way for an endless blood red pool of lava, as far as the eye can see. Mima was no longer smiling. Her face was now coiled with rage, and her voice had become deeper and much louder. As her transformation finished, she screamed, "NOW I FIGHT," she shot out countless large orbs of white light from her body, "WITH MY TRUE POWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!" The orbs then homed in on Reimu and Genji.

Reimu's face had become pale from seeing Mima's transformation. She got prone on Genji's back, both to avoid the shots, and to not look Mima in the eye. "Help me, Genji! She's too strong!" she cried out.

Genji, maneuvering around the bullet patterns, shouted, "Do not be scared, my lady! It is all a bluff! She is actually at the end of her strength!"

"R-Really?" Reimu whimpered.

"Yes. She's just lying again. Now would be a good time to call upon your strongest power again." Genji stated.

"Right!" Reimu said. She stood up and did her bomb-like spell again. When the explosion ended, a screeching voice could be heard screaming. Mima had stopped firing her danmaku patterns, and appeared to have transformed back into what she looked like before she started fighting Reimu and Genji.

"Uuuuuugh!" Mima groaned. "This is impossible! I shot everything I could at you! But you just had to keep avoiding nearly everything I threw at you! Bullet wave after bullet wave, you just brushed past it all! Why, whyǃ?"

"Survival is what's most important in battle, and the easiest way for the lady and I to survive would be to dodge whatever you threw at us, simple as that." Genji responded.

Reimu added, "And now to seal you, and send you back where you belong!"

Right before she could seal Mima, Reimu felt something strike her from behind. She fell off Genji. "My lady!" he shouted, as he flew down to catch her on his back.

"Don't do it!" shouted Marisa from behind. Her clothes were tattered, and her body was covered with bruises. Despite aching all over, she was still moving and talking, "Don't send Mima-sama away! She's my best friend!"

Reimu snapped, "Why shouldn't Iǃ? She tried to kill me and my aunt back at the shrine! She must be punished!"

Marisa yelled, "But Mima-sama told me,"

Mima interrupted, "Marisa, we failed, and I don't want you to arouse suspicion at home. Make up a good story for your community and we can still get together, okay?"

Marisa, Reimu, and Genji went, "Huh?" just as Mima made a gesture with her arm and teleported Marisa out of the World of Dreams.

"What was that for?" Reimu asked.

Mima answered, "I didn't want her to hear this. You see, she's not at fault. This all started because I had heard that if you killed a member of the Hakurei clan who had inherited the ability to call divine powers on your side, that you could take that power for yourself. I didn't know if it was true or not, but I had to try, so I was planning on killing you and the head shrine maiden, who I presume is also your aunt, hoping to take that power for myself. Instead, I see you beat me yet again, this time, even when I _was_ up to mischief. However, Marisa is a good friend of mine, and I'd hate to see her heartbroken. Please don't exorcize me. I promise I will never try to kill you nor any other Hakurei ever again. And I'm not lying, I really will not try to murder anyone of your clan ever again."

Reimu and Genji were silent for a few moments, absorbing this information. Genji then remarked, "Remember, the most important part of maintaining the Boundary is not necessarily exorcizing all spirits, but maintaining peace. If you think this spirit woman can be trusted not to bring harm to us, you should let her go. After all, the witch girl seemed to genuinely care for her."

Reimu thought for a moment. Then she demanded, "Mima, swear that you will never try to hurt me or any other human ever again, and I will let you go."

"I swear." Mima said.

"Good." Reimu continued, "Because if you break that promise, you're as good as gone." She then looked at Genji, "Alright, Genji! Take us home! All of this excitement is getting me tired."

"As you wish, my lady." Genji ended, as he flew off, with Reimu in tow.

Mima was now by herself. "Well, I suppose I'll have to find some other way to conquer Gensokyo, but how can I do that without killing her?"

* * *

Marisa was now outside, near the tree stump. She had one thought on her mind, "I wanna go home."

Exhausted from tonight's activities, as well as in pain from Reimu's attack, Marisa made her way back home. There were no spirits anywhere to be found. She got home without incident. The next morning, her family was curious as to how she got injured overnight. She claimed her "owies" were from a youkai that snuck into her bedroom and attacked her and flew away before she could do anything about it. For the next few days, everything was back to normal. However, Marisa had doubts in her mind, "Will I see Mima again? Will she still teach me magic, even though her plan failed?" She couldn't know for sure until the next third Friday of the month.

She had to find out for herself, though. She had to see if Mima was still there, waiting for her in the World of Dreams. On the next Friday she could meet her, she donned her witch costume, snuck out of the house, and made her way to the tree stump out in the field of grass. She entered the World of Dreams. As she did that, a familiar figure greeted her with a smile, "Marisa! You made it!" Marisa's face was beaming.


	6. Chapter 6

A new day had dawned over Gensokyo. The status quo was in effect: the fairies were flying randomly, spirits were minding their own business, humans were either cultivating food or selling things, youkai were either being a menace or being very polite, and the Boundary had not dissolved. Even still, something unfamiliar was happening.

"We've made it! A realm driven entirely by magic!" declared an unfamiliar female voice.

A different female voice chimed in, "I wouldn't be so sure about that; it looks like some of the environments here are controlled by elements of nature, not magic."

The first speaker shouted, "Stop being so stupid, Chiyuri!" A sound like a fist striking the back of someone's head was heard. "There's magic everywhere, I can feel it! Those nitwits at the university would be quaking in their boots if they saw this!"

The second speaker added, "Indeed, but what I don't understand is why is this one region filled with magic while the rest of Sol III has close-to-no magic? It's almost like someone sealed this realm's magic away on purpose, as if to prevent it from leaking out to the rest of the world."

A sound of a fist striking the back of someone's head was followed by, "What a ridiculous hypothesis, Chiyuri! We'll never regain our honor with crackpot theories like that!" There was a brief silence. "What we need is to bring back someone who can wield magic that would prove that those old geezers were wrong." She was pacing back and forth, "The problem is, how do I know which of the natives is good with magic?" There was a longer silence, "I've got it, Chiyuri! I've got an idea."

"Really? What?"

"We'll start a contest; a contest to see which of the natives is the most powerful in terms of magic! We'll promise the participants anything they want for a prize, and then, once the victor is determined, we'll take that person with us!" She seemed very sure of herself.

"What will be the prize?" The girl named Chiyuri asked.

"Huh?"

"The prize? What could we possibly give them? All we have is some furniture, an antique gun, a riding rocket, and a robot maid that barely works anymore."

The older girl stated, "You think too much, Chiyuri. If you truly are my understudy, then you'll know that the contest is not important; it's obtaining results that are most important."

The younger girl chuckled, "I get it now, Yumemi!"

* * *

Marisa had entered the World of Dreams once again. She met up with Mima, but she hadn't come to learn more magic; something else was on her mind. "Mima-sama! Mima-sama, look!" Marisa shouted enthusiastically.

Mima sighed, "What now?"

"Look!" Marisa yelled. She showed Mima a flier. It read as follows:

WIN WHATEVER YOU WANT!

Citizen of Gensokyo, do you find yourself to be talented in the field of magic? Then prove it! Come to the pyramid-like structure near your so-called "Forest of Magic" and partake in a competition to see if you are truly worthy! The grand prize winner will take home whatever he or she desires. So, do you want to win whatever you want? Then do not hesitate and show yourself! Contest ends tomorrow. We cannot be held responsible for personal injury or death.

"Anything you want, huh?" Mima said to herself. Her mind was racing, _if this is true, and if Marisa or I win, we could obtain ultimate power, thus ensuring my rise to grandeur. This is too good to pass up._

"I wanna go so badly!" Marisa blurted out, "And I want you to come!"

"Yes; let us go to the surface. I know I've been strict about leaving the World of Dreams again, but today, we will go. We cannot let an opportunity like this pass us up."

Marisa couldn't contain her excitement any longer, "YES! THIS IS GONNA BE AWESOME!"

* * *

Marisa and Mima made their way to the Forest of Magic, which fortunately for them, wasn't that far from the entrance of the World of Dreams. After looking around, they saw something out of the ordinary; a large, dark purple pyramid standing just on the edge of the forest. "Whoa! That thing is huge!" Marisa noted. Indeed, the pyramid did tower over the trees.

"Look, there are some people standing near the entrance." Mima noted. "I take it they also want to partake in the contest?"

"Even so, we'll beat 'em for sure!" Marisa exclaimed. They approached the crowd. There were three other people in total. They began talking amongst themselves.

"Oh look, two more people."

"Is that a witch?"

"That woman has no legs; she's just floating!"

Marisa asked Mima, "Should I say anything?"

Mima answered, "No, let me do the talking." But before she could introduce herself, the small crowd began talking again.

"Hey look, now there's someone else coming!"

"It's just one person this time."

"She's got bright clothes on."

Marisa turned around to see who the newcomer was. Indeed, the new girl was . . . _a little girl in a red-and-white robe with long dark hair_. Marisa's hands tightened into fists, and she angrily shouted, "YOU!"

The red-and-white girl looked up and angrily responded, "YOU!" in kind, but then added, "And Mima; you're here as wellǃ?"

Mima got between Reimu and Marisa, and reassured the two, "Don't get excited, now. We have a truce, remember?"

Marisa softened her hands out of fists and looked confused, "Huh? A truce?"

"Yes." Mima continued, "I promised Reimu that I would never try to harm another human ever again, and in return, she would not seal me away. I am holding you up to the same standard, Marisa."

Marisa complained, "But how can you be so calmǃ? She interfered in our plan!"

Reimu then added, "Yeah, and she's using you for her,"

She was interrupted by a large booming voice, "Welcome one, welcome all!


	7. Chapter 7

"I count six people now, all females too." Chiyuri stated. "Are women more gifted with magic, or are they the only ones gutsy enough to do this?"

Yumemi replied, "I can't say for sure, but six is enough for now; at least one of them should be good enough to take back to the university."

Chiyuri questioned, "So, do you know what the contest will be?"

"Why yes," Yumemi said, "I've formulated it within a matter of moments. Let's introduce ourselves now."

"Um."

"What is it now?"

"What if someone else comes?" Chiyuri asked.

"Shoo them away. And don't make me look stupid."

* * *

What looked like some kind of door opened on the side of the pyramid structure, and a path lead down to a balcony for conveniently giving speeches. Two figures walked down the path; one of them was a woman with short red hair and red eyes, wearing a red vest and long red skirt over a white long-sleeved shirt. The other was a shorter girl with yellow pigtails and yellow eyes, who was wearing a white sailor uniform, a white hat, and a blue neckerchief. The red-haired woman addressed the audience, "Welcome one, welcome all!" The six participants stopped what they were doing and focused their eyes on the speaker. "I am Yumemi Okazaki, and this is my assistant Chiyuri Kitashirakawa."

"Hi!" Chiyuri blurted out.

Yumemi continued, "You have come to partake in a contest to hopefully win whatever your heart desires. But before we get started, I want you to introduce yourselves: tell us your names, a little about yourselves, and also how you acquired your magic." She made an aside to Chiyuri, "Get out the clipboard and start taking notes." She told the audience, "Don't be shy now; just stand over there and give us an introduction."

"I'll go first!" Marisa insisted. She stood in front of the crowd, between the guests and the balcony where Yumemi and Chiyuri stood, and spoke, "I'm Marisa Kirisame, and I'm a witch! I wanna be the best witch ever! See that woman over there, the one in the blue clothes? She's Mima; she's also a witch! She's been teaching me magic for a while now. She told me that learning magic is easy, because, like my mommy and daddy told me, my great-great-great-great-whatevers were youkai hunters, and they knew all these magics that were needed to fend off the youkai, and I guess I have that ability as well." She then struck what looked like a pose, "MAKE NO MISTAKE! I WILL _WIN!_" She then went back to Mima.

"Next." Yumemi reminded.

A woman with a long red ponytail stood in front of the audience. She wore a purple robe with red floral markings on it and a yellow ribbon in her hair. She looked on with her red eyes, "My name is Kotohime. As you can tell from the name, I am a princess of rabbits, but I am more than just that. I am also an enforcer of the law of Gensokyo. I have come here today to procure something to add to my collection, and also to make sure none of you act in an unlawful manner."

"What about your magic?" Yumemi asked.

"My magic?" Kotohime repeated. "Ah yes. I am like the girl who came before me; I come from a line of youkai hunters. You'll find that most Gensokyan humans are like that. Otherwise, I have nothing here to add. Respect the law, and it will respect you." She left.

"Next contestant." Yumemi sounded.

Reimu went up and addressed everyone next. "Hello. You probably already know who I am, since my family is famous in the human village, but our guests are new, so I'll say that I am Reimu Hakurei. I am the next in line to protect the Hakurei Boundary, the same boundary that you two must've bypassed somehow."

"Oh! So that's why getting in was so hard!" Chiyuri mentioned.

Reimu continued, "I too have inherited my powers, but my powers are different. They are not magics in the purest sense of the word, but the summoning of divine powers. It works like magic, but it's not something anyone can use. Only virgin women of my family bloodline can use this power. You see, in my family, there are always two children born in every generation; one to continue the bloodline, and the other, who must be a girl, to actually protect the Boundary. That's why I'm being taught by my aunt instead of my mom, since my aunt, Misao Hakurei, is the current shrine maiden, but because of that, she can't get married and have kids. I'm going to replace her eventually. Also, Aunt Misao put me up to this. If she hadn't, I wouldn't be here right now." She went back to the crowd.

"Very good, child! Next!" Yumemi said.

The next speaker was a young woman with long purple hair, who was wearing a white lab coat. Her small round spectacles covered her purple eyes, she had a yellow ribbon on her chest, and there was a white ribbon in her hair. "I am Rikako Asakura. I am a woman of science. I too can wield certain magics, but I value science above all else. After all, were it not-"

"-BLASPHEMY!" Reimu erupted. "Science is worthless! There is only magic and divine power!"

Rikako directed her gaze at Reimu, "Perhaps in Gensokyo, where magic makes anything possible, but think for a moment; do you think the human race would have lasted for as long as it has had it not been for the scientific process? Biology, geology, physics, chemistry, astronomy, so many disciplines of science influence us in every way, and you would deny that?"

Reimu answered, "Of course! Science never did anything for the people devoured by youkai! And the Boundary was _not_ created with science, but with magic!"

Rikako's voice became sharper, "Listen little girl, I don't care if you are the future Hakurei shrine maiden, if you don't shut your mouth right now-"

"_-Okay_, that's good enough, Miss Rikako Asakura." Yumemi interrupted. "You may go back to the others now. No need to get excited just yet. Next!"

Mima floated in front of the others, "I'm Mima. Like Marisa said, I'm a witch. You may've noticed that I have a ghost tail where my legs should be. That's because I had a mishap in the past. As for my magic, I'm like everyone else; I inherited it, but I didn't get anything special like the Hakurei girl; just ordinary magic. However, word of warning; if Marisa doesn't win, I will. I can promise you that!~" She said with a smile before returning to the crowd. She thought to herself, _wow, lying comes so naturally to me, "A mishap in the past," that's classic!_

"Okay, just one left now. Go on, don't be scared!" Yumemi reassured.

The last speaker was a girl wearing a blue maid's uniform with a white apron in front. She wore white elbow-length gloves and a white wide-brimmed hat with a red ribbon to the side. She had medium-length blonde hair and yellow eyes. She said, "H-Hello. I'm Kana Anaberal. I'm not like everyone else here, for you see, I'm a poltergeist. I was originally human a long time ago, but when I was a human, my life was nothing but misery. I didn't realize it at the time, but I was very mentally unstable, and I would always see or feel things that weren't really there; things that scared me, hurt me, and made me feel terrible. Over time, it got worse and worse. Eventually, I just couldn't take it anymore, so I got hold of a knife and killed myself. I then came back as a spirit. For the first time since I could remember, I was free from the delusions, and I felt true happiness for the first time ever. I took up shop in a European mansion, and the owner didn't mind me haunting the halls. However, recently, the owner started ignoring me, and I became very lonely, but then I caught wind of a contest. If I win, I want a new home, that's all I ask. Oh, also, poltergeists are magical beings, so I guess using magic is just a part of my nature now. Thank you all for listening." She returned to the crowd.

Everyone (except Mima) became downcast from hearing Kana's speech. Chiyuri was wiping tears off her face with a handkerchief. Yumemi, trying her best to hide her anguish, addressed crowd, "Now that we're done introducing ourselves, you're probably wondering what the contest is. It will be an elimination tournament. If my studies of Gensokyo are correct, you people love to settle things with magical duels. This is what you'll do: in the first round, there will be three one-on-one duels. The winners of these duels go on to the second and final round, which will be the three winners fighting each other to see who is number one. I will decide who fights in the first round. The first heat will be between Marisa and Rikako. The second heat will be between Reimu and Kotohime. The last heat of the first round will be between Mima and Kana. Now then, Marisa and Rikako, get ready."

Rikako asked, "What are the rules?"

Yumemi became flustered, "The rules? Um, I didn't think that far ahead . . . keep shooting at each other until your opponent falls down or admits defeat. There will be no ties nor time limits."

"What are the boundaries?" Rikako asked.

"Uhh . . . anywhere within my line of sight. Now then, stand away from the crowd and face each other, but don't start until I say so."

Marisa and Rikako took their positions. Rikako had strapped what looked like a rocket pack on her back. "I'll show you that magic alone will not win duels." she told Marisa.

"Your science is nothing against my strength as a witch!" Marisa responded.


	8. Chapter 8

"I see that you've taken your proper places." Yumemi asserted. "Very well then; BEGIN!"

Marisa readied her wand, and Rikako activated her rocket pack. The both of them flew upwards and started firing danmaku at each other, Marisa's shots being green and yellow stars, and Rikako's shots being blue diamonds. The two of them fired and strafed through the air, but neither of them were gaining the upper hand. Rikako saw a chance to break the stalemate by performing a more complex spell. With a set of hand gestures, she was surrounded by eight brightly-colored orbs which shot off small white danmaku bullets in all directions. Marisa had a harder time dodging these shots, but then saw an opportunity; she whispered something like an incantation, pointed her wand at Rikako, and fired what looked like a thin bluish-white laser at the woman of science. Her first shot missed, but she kept firing more lasers, putting more pressure on Rikako. Just as Rikako's spell ended, she was struck by one of Marisa's lasers. "GAAAAH!" She shouted. Her rocket pack became damaged, sputtering to keep her afloat. "I'm losing altitude!" She said to herself, as she descended to the ground, unable to fly back up. She made a rough landing near the pyramid structure, and seeing as how she was in no condition to fight any longer, stated, "I give up!"

Marisa boasted, "Ha! I told you that I'm gonna win!" As she came back down to earth, she thought _if only my laser shots were bigger, I would've nailed her on my first try!_

Yumemi announced, "And the winner is Marisa! Oh, anyone who loses, don't leave. Everyone will receive a consolidation prize, even if you lose."

Chiyuri whispered to Yumemi, "Consolidation prizes? What could we possibly give them?"

Yumemi said to her, "I'm formulating it as I speak." She then announced to the group, "Okay then, for our next heat, we will have Reimu and Kotohime. Just like last time, face each other, but don't start until I say so."

Reimu and Kotohime did as Yumemi told them to. Kotohime voiced, "It will be an honor to duel with a member of the Hakurei clan."

Reimu said nothing, but thought, _Genji isn't with me; what if she can fly? I'll be at a serious disadvantage!_

Yumemi exclaimed, "Now that you are both ready, BEGIN!"

Kotohime took to the air and fired what looked like pink triangle danmaku bullets at the shrine maiden. Reimu could only run and jump out of the way of the shots. Kotohime taunted, "What's wrong, Hakurei? You can't fly? And I thought you came from a privileged bloodline!"

"I do!" Reimu retorted, as she dodged more danmaku. She fired a few o-fuda cards at Kotohime, but it wasn't enough to slow her down. _If I only had an opening to use the latest trick Aunt Misao taught me,_ she thought. Reimu was running short of breath, and her speed decreased to the point where she got nicked in the leg by one of Kotohime's shots. The pain in her leg made her motionless; she now was the cornered prey about to be killed by the predator.

"And now to finish you off!" Kotohime shouted. She began an incantation for a more powerful spell, but in doing so, she had stopped moving and firing at Reimu. The red-and-white girl saw her only chance, and began an incantation of her own. At the next moment, Kotohime was surrounded by six black orbs with red dots in the center. The orbs shot at Reimu, but before they could get anywhere, what looked like borders surrounded Kotohime. These borders fired off red-and-white yin yang orbs that knocked the black orbs out that had appeared around Kotohime. The yin-yang orbs effectively canceled out the black orbs, and began pelting at Kotohime. "Ow! Ow!" She groaned. Before the barrage could even finish, the red-haired woman pleaded, "Mercy! I am unworthy to fight you, Hakurei!"

The yin-yang orbs stopped, and Kotohime came down to the ground, wincing with pain. "And the winner is Reimu!" Yumemi announced.

Kotohime said, "How clever of you to trick me into lowering my guard like that, shrine maiden of the Hakurei clan!"

Reimu, sounding confused, replied, "Huh? I wasn't trying to trick you. I really can't fly without assistance."

Yumemi continued to preside, "And now for the last heat of the first round! Mima and Kana, take your places."

Mima and Kana stood facing each other. Mima said, "Don't worry; I'll be gentle~!"

Kana replied, "It's been a long time since I had a duel."

Yumemi declared, "And now for the final heat of the first round! BEGIN!"

Mima held her palms open, and blue flames materialized above them. Kana began flying, and firing danmaku that looked like blue ribbons at Mima. The green-haired woman dodged the shots, but her movements were unusual; she spun around like she was dancing in the air with her eyes closed, and she fired her blue flames at Kana without aiming. Kana tried to evade the shots, but found it difficult to predict Mima's actions. Reimu, observing this, thought, _she's just toying with her; she's really holding back._

Eventually, some of Mima's shot connected, but they didn't seem to affect Kana that much. The poltergeist girl then placed her palms out to Mima, focused some energy, and shot bluish-white spheres that homed in on her opponent. The shots hit Mima, which caught her off guard. Mima was furious now, "Argh! I was enjoying myself until now!" Her flame shots now resembled blue needles, and she fired them with her eyes open in fury. The needle-like shots kept hitting Kana, until she could no longer focus her strength on flying and shooting. She fell to the earth and plainly stated, "If I had a white flag, I'd wave it right now."

Yumemi declared, "And the winner is Mima!"

Mima remarked, "Lucky for you, poltergeists don't get hurt like humans, but that still doesn't excuse you from disrupting my fun time."

Kana questioned, "What fun time? We were dueling!"

Yumemi broke in, "And now for the final round; the three winners will participate in a battle royale until only one is left standing! Reimu, Marisa, and Mima, face each other away from the losers."

The three left standing did so, but Reimu was still limping from her injury. Mima looked concerned, "Well this is no good; I promised Reimu I'd never harm another human awhile back." She made what sounded like a forced sigh and said, "Judges, I will have to forfeit this round, because I don't want to break a promise."

Yumemi became incensed, "Huhǃ? Why are you wimping out nowǃ? You fought that other girl with no objections!"

Mima answered, "That's because she was a ghost, not a human. My deal with Reimu has nothing to do with me harming non-humans," she then glanced at Reimu, "but because of what we agreed to, when the round starts, feel free to tap me with your little rod thing. Of course, good luck dealing with my student."

Marisa then made a cocky smile, "I don't know why Mima doesn't want to fight you, but I said that I would win if she didn't, and considering that you still can't fly, and that you didn't bring your turtle friend, _and_ you've got a gimp leg, I'd say this contest is in the bag!"

Reimu fired back with a cocky smile of her own, "Don't be so sure of that, witch. I won't let you get away with attacking me with my back turned like last time!"

Yumemi looked dumbfounded by all of the conversing between the three, "Uh, okay then, if you're all done discussing diplomacy, then begin already."

Reimu went up to Mima and lightly tapped her with her gohei. Mima fell to her side and said in a monotone, "Oh no. I have been hit by a shrine maiden's stick. I am unable to fight anymore. Woe is me." She then floated away to the crowd of contestants and said to Marisa, "Don't hold back Marisa; you needn't worry about accidently shooting me now!~"

Marisa flew upwards and readied her wand, "With your pet turtle not in the picture, it looks like I have the upper hand now!" She fired her star-shaped danmaku at Reimu, who was still on the ground. Reimu did not move, nor did she flinch at the oncoming bullets. Instead, she made an incantation, and what looked like a border materialized in front of her, shooting yin-yang orbs at the danmaku, blocking the shots. More such borders appeared around Marisa, firing orbs at her. Marisa gloated, "Ha! That trick may've worked on the samurai, but I'm too fast to fall for this one!" She maneuvered out of the way of the orbs, focusing less on Reimu and more on remaining in one piece. With her wand in hand, she fired her thin blue laser shots at the shrine maiden.

The outcome was inevitable; there was no way Reimu in her current condition could've won since Marisa survived her yin-yang bombardment. She took a direct hit to the chest and fell, groaning in agony. "AGGGGHHH! NO MORE! NO MORE!"

Marisa threw her arms in the air, "Yes! I finally beat you fair this time! Although next time, make it more fun by actually becoming good, okay?" Reimu said nothing, only going back to the crowd of participants that lost.

"And so it has been decided!" Yumemi declared, "Marisa is the winner! For your valor, we invite you inside of our structure, so that you may claim your prize." A door opened on the pyramid on the ground level. "Just go through until you reach the end of the hallway and we'll meet you there!" Having said that, she and Chiyuri retreated back into the structure themselves.

Marisa ran into the pyramid, shouting, "I won! I won! I won!"


	9. Chapter 9

Marisa was running exuberantly through a bright metallic hallway. Eventually, the hallway led to a large room that appeared to be some sort of central hub, for many doors and hallways were connected here. Marisa looked around, trying to find the hosts of the contest. She heard what sounded like a metallic clicking sound. She turned around and saw Chiyuri, who was holding a silver metallic object in her hands that she couldn't recognize. Chiyuri wore a sinister grin on her face, "Now you must come with me!"

Marisa asked, "Say, what's that you're holding in your hand? Is that the prize?"

Chiyuri, still looking sinister, answered, "What, this? No, this isn't the prize. I don't know if they have something like this in your dimension, but in my home dimension, we call this a 'firearm.' Think of it as a tool that can launch very fast, and very lethal danmaku shots."

Marisa was astounded, "Whoa, reallyǃ? That sounds cool! Are you sure I can't have that as my prize?"

Before Chiyuri could answer, a fist struck the top of her head. Yumemi had hit her and took away her firearm, "Chiyuri, what the hell do you think you're doingǃ? You can't threaten the specimen! What if she dies before we get home? All of this will have been for naught!"

Chiyuri whimpered, "Sorry. I just thought it would be cool to be all dramatic since we're basically kidnapping her."

Yumemi punched Chiyuri again, "Why did you say that out loudǃ?"

Marisa became startled, "Huh, kidnapping? But I thought I was gonna get a prize!"

Yumemi retorted, "Oh, sorry. We're not here to hand out any prizes." She then spread her arms out as if to look dramatic, then she appeared to be wearing a long black cape. "We came looking for a specimen to take home, and you're our best candidate!"

Marisa turned around and flew away as fast as she could, "HELP ME, MIMA! THESE PEOPLE ARE BAD PEOPLE!"

Yumemi ordered, "Don't let her get away!"

"Right!" Chiyuri noted, as the two of them gave chase to the witch.

* * *

Mima looked upon the contestants that failed to win. She made a smug smirk of satisfaction, pleased to know that her protege had been the one to win, especially since one of the contestants was Reimu. She floated up to the injured shrine maiden, "Marisa has been training every chance she's had since our last encounter, but it seems you haven't in that time."

Reimu was about to shout _shut up!_ When Kana observed, "Huh? The witch is escaping!"

Everyone noticed that Marisa flew out of the pyramid structure at a breakneck speed with Yumemi and Chiyuri not far behind. The witch managed to yell, "MIMA-SAMAAAAAAAA!" While flying away.

Mima's face frowned at this new development, "Hold tight! I'm coming for ya!" She said, now flying toward the other three.

* * *

Marisa, Yumemi, Chiyuri, and Mima were flying just above the Forest of Magic. Chiyuri noticed that Mima was following her. She turned around and fired a volley of blue crescent-shaped danmaku at her, "You stay out of this!" she warned.

Mima evaded the shots, then made blue flames appear above her hands, "I don't care if you're human; I'm taking you down!" She responded with blue fireball shots.

Marisa saw that Mima was attacked. She stopped and faced Yumemi. Her face was now twisted in anger. "You attacked Mima-sama! Now I'm _mad!_" She fired green and yellow stars at Yumemi.

Yumemi was caught by surprise, "Dang it! Don't make me have to harm the specimen!" She remarked. Yumemi now started firing purple danmaku bullets shaped like the infinity symbol, "Stop running away and make this easy for yourself!" She commanded, while thinking, _This kind of danmaku should slow her down, if I could only now land a shot._

There was a flurry of danmaku of varying colors flying over the forest. Chiyuri began focusing energy just above the palms of her hands; after charging for a few seconds, she unleashed a circular wave of blue ring-shaped danmaku, some of which hit Mima. The green-haired woman stopped firing for a moment, "I've been holding back for too long now. You will witness my true power right about," there was a blinding white flash. When it faded, Mima was holding her scepter, she wore a long blue dress, and she had six wings coming out of her shoulder blades, "now." she concluded.

"Whuh oh!" Chiyuri exclaimed, "I think we should've taken this one back instead of the little girl!"

"Nonsense!" Yumemi retorted, "How could we possibly contain what is obviously a demon womanǃ?"

"Marisa, come to my side." Mima ordered.

"Okay!" Marisa did so very quickly.

"Ready your wand; let's take them both out at once."

"Right!"

Marisa held out her wand at Chiyuri and Mima held the top of her scepter at Yumemi. They concentrated their energy into their rods. Yumemi yelled, "Don't just float there, Chiyuri! Run already!"

"Right back at cha!" Chiyuri advised.

Yumemi and Chiyuri moved out of the way just as Marisa and Mima began firing blue lasers at the two of them. Chiyuri got hit by one of the lasers and fell into the forest, "YEEEEEOOOOOOOW! THIS WAS MY NICEST SUIT!" she managed to say as she fell.

Yumemi then looked serious, "Well then, I guess I'll have to take drastic measures if I am to preserve the specimen." She snapped her fingers. Blue orbs appeared around Mima. The orbs then exploded, surrounding Mima with cross-shaped explosions. Mima lost altitude, but quickly recovered to get back at Yumemi's altitude, but before she could fire back, Yumemi unleashed a swarm of white six-pointed star-shaped bullets at her.

The last volley was enough to knock Mima down to the earth. Marisa couldn't say anything to this. Only one thought floated in her mind: _destroy._ Firing stars and lasers clearly wasn't working on Yumemi. Marisa now took a different approach; she flew directly at Yumemi, dodging her shots in doing so. She held her wand forward, as if she were going to joust with her, "HEEEEEEEEEEE-AAAGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" she screamed.

Yumemi became shocked, "Wha-" but before she could finish, Marisa's wand had slammed into her ribcage. The shock from the impact caused Yumemi to fall into the forest.

Marisa, seeing that she was victorious, came down to ground level to look for Mima. She found her mentor figure standing near a tree, no longer in her winged form. "Mima-sama, you're hurt!" Marisa noted. Mima's clothes were covered with tears and burn marks from the danmaku, but her face showed no signs of battle.

"Hey kiddo." She greeted, "Did ya beat her?"

Marisa answered, "Yeah! I used that trick of charging her with my wand like you!"

"Good job. You've done me proud." Mima said.

"DON'T MOVE!" Shouted the voice of Yumemi. In one hand was the 'firearm' she took from Chiyuri. Her other hand was clutching her chest in pain. "I am not afraid to kill you, Mima. My magic may not be effective against you, but this gun may be."

Before anyone could react, everyone heard Chiyuri laughing, "Wow, Yumemi! You're so stupid! That gun's not even loaded! You can't kill anyone with that!" she added, as she approached the crowd, with her own clothes tattered from battle.

Yumemi looked at the gun, "Huh? You're right. You weren't really threatening Marisa earlier after all. Heh. Heh heh." But then she ceased her nervous laughter, "But you were still stupid enough to point it at her."

Chiyuri blushed, "Yeah. I guess we're both stupid like that."

Yumemi then looked at Marisa and Mima, "Hey, if you don't kill either of us, we'll give you both a prize, and for real this time, too."

Marisa shouted, "Yes, I want a prize! I came this far, didn't I?"

Yumemi smirked, "Well then, let's get back to the Probability Space Hypervessel."

Marisa tilted her head sideways, "The what-what-a-what-what?"

"The place where we hosted the tournament."

"Oh, right."

The four of them flew back to the pyramid. Marisa asked Mima, "Can you still fly in your state?"

Mima answered, "Of course. I've had worse, believe me."


	10. Chapter 10

Marisa, Mima, Yumemi, and Chiyuri had arrived at the pyramid where Reimu, Kana, Kotohime, and Rikako were waiting. Yumemi addressed the audience, "Attention, everyone! I will now present the prizes!" She said this while clutching her chest and with her face grimacing. She then turned to Marisa, "As the winner of today's contest, what is it that you want the most?"

"Something that I can fly on!" Marisa exuberantly replied.

Chiyuri pondered, "Um, do we have anything like that?"

Yumemi ordered, "Just bring out all of the junk from the vessel and we'll go from there."

Chiyuri did just that; she brought out many different trinkets that were within the vessel. Marisa looked upon the junk and spotted what she wanted; a rocket. The rocket was large enough to ride on, but small enough to ride properly. "This! This is exactly what I want!" She exclaimed. She mounted the rocket, "So, how does it start?"

"Just tap the left-hand side." Chiyuri answered.

"Okay!" Marisa did just that. The rocket fired off a fiery exhaust, and took to the skies with Marisa barely hainging on, "WHOOOOOOOOOOOAAA! AWESOME!"

Yumemi addressed Mima, "Aren't you gonna go after her?"

Mima shook her head, "Nah. She can take care of herself."

Yumemi then added, "Now it's your turn; what do you want for your prize, Mima?"

Mima glanced at the trinkets, then said, "Nothing. The exercise I got from today was a good enough prize. Good day." She then flew away.

Yumemi addressed Reimu, "Reimu, since you were in the finals, you get the next prize!"

Reimu hobbled over to the prizes. She asked, "Do you have anything that can help with chores around the house?"

Chiyuri responded, "I'm glad you asked! Yes we do!" She then presented what looked like a girl with green hair and a blue-and-white maid's uniform. "This is Ruukoto; she's a robot maid built to perform domestic chores. She's atomic powered, but a little outdated. You can have her if you want."

"Why thank you!" Reimu said. She looked at the robot, "Ruukoto, give me a ride home."

Ruukoto said in a monotone, "Specify home."

Reimu answered, "Uh, the Hakurei Shrine."

Ruukoto then said, "Specify location of Hakurei Shrine."

Reimu pointed her finger in a direction, "That way."

"Affirmative." Ruukoto picked up Reimu and carried her piggyback to the shrine.

"Aunt Misao's gonna love this!" She shouted while riding away in the distance.

Yumemi addressed everyone else, "Kotohime, Kana, and Rikako, since none of you got past the first round, I should just give you lame prizes, but that would be mean on my part. Come and take one of whatever you want."

Kotohime took an object, "What's this?"

Chiyuri answered, "That's a chair. I don't want it anymore. You can have it."

"What can you do with it?" Kotohime asked.

Chiyuri picked up the chair, "Well for starters," she got behind Yumemi, "You can do this!" She slammed the top of Yumemi's head with the chair in hand. She yelled, "That's for punching me all the time!" She assured Rikako, "Don't be put off; we do that all the time."

"Interesting. This will make a worthy addition to my collection." Kotohime said.

Rikako looked around for anything of interest. "Do you have anything of scientific worth?"

Chiyuri looked around, "umm," she picked up her gun, "This here's a 'firearm.' I don't have any bullets for it, so you can have it."

Rikako stated, "Well, this looks like a handy device, so I'll take it."

Kana went up to Yumemi, "All I really want is a new home, but I don't see anything of the sort here."

Chiyuri thought aloud, "Huh, a home? That's a challenge." She then addressed Yumemi, "Hey Yumemi, we have a couple of spare rooms in the Probability Space Hypervessel right? Can't we just take apart one of them and leave it here for her?"

Yumemi said, "It's possible. Would that be alright with you? It wouldn't be much of a home."

Kana exclaimed, "Oh yes! It would be wonderful if you did this for me! Any new home is desirable!"

"Alright then!" Chiyuri concluded.

* * *

At the Hakurei Shrine, a woman was sitting on the patio, drinking tea out of a small cup. She had long black hair tied into a ponytail with a red ribbon, but a few strands of her hair were turning a light gray color. Her dark brown eyes were looking over the horizon to see if anything of note was ahead of her. Her face was relaxed and expressionless, but unlike the faces of the children, hers was weathered, with a few wrinkles near her eyes and lips. She was wearing a red-and-white uniform, but an unusual one in which her sleeves were detached from the robe. When she finished her tea, she saw a curious sight; a green-haired girl carrying her niece piggyback. She called out to her, "Who's your friend, Reimu?"

The young miko said, "You can put me down now." The maid did so. She then addressed the older woman, "This is all your fault, Aunt Misao! If I had Genji with me, I would've won!"

Misao said, "You didn't answer my question; who is this?"

Reimu became flustered, "Oh, um, this is my prize. I didn't win, but I got a prize still. Her name's Ruukoto; she's a robot maid."

Misao raised an eyebrow, "A robot? Here in Gensokyo? Let me see." She got up and looked at Ruukoto from every angle, noticing the uniform and the atomic symbol on her back, "So the trip was worthwhile, even if you 'lost,' right?"

Reimu sighed, "I guess. It's just I wished you let me bring Genji along; then I would've had an advantage."

Misao looked at her, "Reimu, you can't rely on Genji forever. You need more self-sufficiency if you are to succeed me."

"I know that!" Reimu snapped. "It's just; I still can't fly."

Misao crouched down to Reimu's eye level and held her shoulders, "Look at me; I know you're still struggling to learn to fly, but I know you'll be able to master it eventually. You learned barrier magic with no problem, so I know you'll master flight. You just have to believe it's possible, that's all." She then smiled, "So then, would you like some tea?"

Reimu answered, "Sure, but you'll have to carry me."

Misao asked, "Why?"

Reimu said, "Well, didn't you see Ruukoto carry me? My leg got hurt at the contest; I can't walk very well."

Misao made a more sly smile, "You know, if you knew how to fly, you could still move about even with injured legs."

Reimu pouted, "That's mean, Aunt Misao!"

Misao responded, "I wasn't being mean! I was telling the truth! But have your new friend carry you instead; my arthritis is acting up." She got up and retreated into the shrine. "And we'll fix your leg while we're at it."

Reimu said, "Alright." She glanced at Ruukoto, "Ruukoto, carry me in!"

* * *

Yumemi and Chiyuri were in the bridge of their hypervessel, already enroute to their home dimension. Yumemi looked disappointed, "We didn't get a specimen." she said.

Chiyuri reassured, "Maybe not, but we still got some good data."

"But how can we convince them with just heresay? Gensokyo isn't even like any other region on Earth; they'll think I'm just lying again!"

Chiyuri stated, "There there, Yumemi. Even if no one believes you, I'll still believe you."

Yumemi stated, "Yeah, I guess so. But even if we try to tell the university that things like flight and danmaku are products of magic and not science, well, I can't guarantee if we'll be able to work there for much longer."

Chiyuri said, "Well even if not, we'll just start our own university! We'll publish our own theses, and then we'll prove magic is real!"

Yumemi chuckled, "You know, that doesn't sound like a bad idea." And after that, the hypervessel had disappeared from the dimension where Earth and Gensokyo could be found.


	11. Chapter 11

[Author's note: Since Lotus Land Story contributes virtually nothing to the Touhou canon (as far as I can tell), I am not featuring it in Mentor and Protege. I am also not going to further describe my own take on The Highly Responsive to Prayers for the time being. We're going straight into Mystic Square now.

Also, not this chapter, but next chapter, I will finally introduce Alice. However, way back in my first chapter, I said things will get darker eventually. You'll see what I mean come chapter 12. Fair warning.]

About eight months have passed since Yumemi and Chiyuri appeared in Gensokyo. Once again, the status quo was in effect. Nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. A new day was about to begin in the human village. A man had come to visit the Kirisame household. He appeared to to be a young adult wearing a blue-and-black shirt and pants with long sleeves. His silver hair was short, and his eyes were a gold color not unlike a dark hue of orange, complemented with eyeglasses. He was a longtime friend of the Kirisame family, and while he was spending time catching up with Mr. And Mrs. Kirisame, Marisa was studying a book about magic in her bedroom. She wasn't wearing her witch costume that day; she was wearing an ordinary blue dress. The man entered the room, "Hello Marisa!" He greeted.

"Kourin!" Marisa said back. "Kourin" was Marisa's nickname for Rinnosuke Morichika. "Whatcha doin'?" She asked.

"Oh not much. The shop's coming along just fine."

"Oh yeah! Kourin's Kourindou!" Marisa shouted, "I can't wait to see it when it's finished!"

"Uh huh, although it's just going to be called 'Kourindou.'" Rinnosuke noticed Marisa's reading material, "Ah, reading up on magic again?"

Marisa nodded, "The librarian still won't let me read books on how to do magic, but I can read about the history of magic!"

Rinnosuke pondered, "So you're serious about becoming a witch, huh?"

"Yep!"

Rinnosuke said, "Well then, that's why I came in here. I have something for you."

Marisa closed her book, "Whoa, really?"

Rinnosuke smiled, "Yes." He reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a small block of wood, "This is a mini-hakkero. It is an elemental reactor. Think of it as a device that enhances magic. Here."

He handed the mini-hakkero to Marisa. She looked closely at it; it was a wood block carved in the shaped of an octogon, with eight trigrams printed on a circle on its frontside. It was small enough to fit in the palm of a single hand, although it took both of Marisa's small childish hands to hold it. As she looked at it, she asked, "Does it really work?"

Rinnosuke answered, "I don't know for sure, but it should. Try it out and let me know the next time we meet."

"Okay! Thanks!" Marisa concluded. After Rinnosuke's visit, Marisa examined the mini-hakkero again, "How does something like this make my magic better?"

* * *

It was now the next day that Mima would show herself in Gensokyo. She waited near the portal into the World of Dreams that she favored; the tree stump with a hole in the center that was in the middle of a field of grass not far from the Forest of Magic. However, something was in the air; that something being fairies. Fairies are a common race in Gensokyo, beings that are not human but rather youkai. They are the most common race in Gensokyo, who can be spotted anywhere and anytime. They have wings like dragonflies and can range anywhere from the size of a hand, to the size of a pre-teen human child. However, they can be dangerous if they travel in large numbers, and that is exactly what some fairies were doing right at that moment; flying through the sky and randomly going about. Some of them came at Mima. The green-haired woman defended herself by firing star-shaped danmaku at them. Once the fairies were vanquished, Marisa came flying in, "Hi Mima-sama! Look what I got!" She showed the mini-hakkero.

"What's that supposed to be?" She asked.

Marisa smiled, "A present! It's supposed to make my magic stronger!"

Mima noted, "Good to hear, because I'm sensing a lot more dangerous creatures milling about than usual."

Marisa said, "Yeah, I noticed that too. Maybe the youkai are up in arms?"

As she said that, a much larger group of fairies surrounded the two, intent on killing them. Mima nervously stated, "Don't look now, but I think we're surrounded." The fairies closed in, firing danmaku shots, while Marisa and Mima held their ground shooting stars and lasers back at the fairies.

Some of the fairies were easily disposed of, but there were more taking the place of the fallen fairies. "There's too many of them!" Marisa exclaimed while flying and shooting simultaneously.

Just before anymore fairies could attack, a large green flash materialized where the fairies were. Within one second, the flash and the fairies were gone. Marisa's mouth was opened in shock. Mima's eyebrows were raised in curiosity. Before any of them could speak, they saw where the flash had originated. Several meters to their right, a woman was floating off the ground. She was wearing a red checkered skirt with a red checkered blouse over a plain white shirt, as well as brown leather shoes. She had green wavy shoulder-length hair, and her eyes were dark red. She carried a white parasol in her hands. She floated up to the duo, "Oh, Mima," she greeted with a smirk, "I see that you've journeyed onto the surface again. Tell me, why is there a human girl standing right next to you? Why haven't you vaporized her yet?"

Marisa became more confused, "Hey, uh, who's this, Mima-sama? How does she know you?"

Mima began, "She's-"

"-_DO NOT_ presume to speak for me." The woman suddenly interrupted. "I am more than capable of speaking for myself, thank you very much. I am Yuka Kazami. I am a youkai from The World of Dreams."

Marisa asked, "Really? I don't remember seeing you there."

Yuka replied, "No, but your spirit friend has loitered in my region more than once." She faced Mima, "So I'll ask you again; why are you sparing that girl there? Is today 'Don't Kill An Earth Human' day? I haven't been to Gensokyo for over fifty years, so I'm not exactly up to date with the traditions."

Mima started to say, "It's a bit of a long story, for you see,"

Marisa interjected, "She's teaching me magic! And, uh, I was gonna learn more today, until fairies started attacking us."

Yuka added, "Ah yes, the Makai fairies."

"Makai?" Marisa questioned, "Aren't you from Makai, Mima-sama?"

"No, but I come from a similar region." Mima answered.

Yuka continued, "If you're done babbling amongst yourselves, I'd like to continue." There was a pause. She then said, "These Makai fairies are swarming all over the place, not just here, but in the World of Dreams as well." Her eyes became narrow, "_Anything that disturbs my garden deserves nothing less than complete and utter annihilation._" She opened her eyes back up, "So I am going to the source to hopefully eradicate all of these vermin before they cause anymore damage. You're welcome to come with me, provided that you yourselves don't prove to be a nuisance."

Marisa's face looked nervous. She whispered to Mima, "She scares me."

Mima addressed Marisa, "I know, but she can help us. I also have my reasons to exterminate these annoying fairies. And think about this; maybe you can practice that new toy of yours if we do this." She then addressed Yuka, "We would like to accompany you on your quest."

Yuka smirked, "May I ask why?"

Mima elaborated, "Well, my friend here wants to practice killing fairies, and also, I don't want these invaders to tarnish my land any further."

Yuka raised an eyebrow, "_Your_ land?"

Mima boasted with confidence, "That's right. I'm working on becoming Gensokyo's rightful ruler, and as future ruler, I declare that these pests must be eradicated."

Yuka concluded, "So be it. Your business is of no concern to me; I just don't want these things spoiling my garden anymore." She then started floating away in a specific direction, "I'm sensing a large cluster of them this way; it may be where they are originating."

Marisa and Mima followed Yuka by flying. Marisa murmured to Mima, "Why is she acting all nice now?"

Mima answered, "She is a youkai of extreme power. The more powerful a youkai is, the more polite it is."

Marisa gulped, "That scares me even more."


	12. Chapter 12

The realm of Makai is connected to Gensokyo, but is not strictly a part of it. It can be accessed by a cave located at the foot of a mountain not too far off from the Hakurei Shrine. The cave was no ordinary one however; it extended many miles down into the earth. Stalactites and stalagmites were a common sight on the path down. Rivulets of red lava snaked their way through the bottom most regions of the cave; a stark contrast to the purpleish-black walls, ceilings, and rock formations. At the end of the cave lay a large city underground. Buildings like those from the feudal age were strewn across the underground landscape. One structure stood out from the others; a large castle of sorts. Inside the castle, the interior decoration was more like one from a medieval European castle than an Asian castle. Within a large room was the throne, and on that throne was a woman wearing a red robe and light brown lace-up boots that went up to her calves. She had long white hair, with a ponytail going down the left side of her head. Her eyes were an icy blue-grey color. She sat on the throne with a non-descript look on her face, and her hands folded over her lap. A child approached her. This child was a young girl, possibly of nine years of age. She had short blond hair and large blue eyes. She was wearing a light pink dress, one with a blue apron over it. She wore a red headband in her hair, as well as a blue ribbon on the left side of her head. She was holding what looked like a half-finished doll in her hands. She had a wide smile on her face when she addressed the woman on the throne, "Look, Mommy! My new doll is coming along nicely!"

The woman's eyes perked up. "Really? Let me see, Alice."

The girl named Alice flew up to the woman and presented the doll. She giggled and said, "Don't you like it?"

The woman took the doll by hand, "It's not finished. It hasn't been painted yet, and it doesn't even have any clothes on."

Alice snapped, "I know that! I'm still working on it!"

Shinki replied, "I know. I can see that you're putting a lot of effort into it. I see potential within that doll of yours; if you're dilligent enough, it should become something truly wonderful."

Alice smiled, "Yeah! When I'm done, it'll be really pretty, and you'll see just how far I've gotten with dollcraft, Mommy!" She then floated away from Shinki and down to another region of the castle, "I'll have all kinds of wonderful dolls, Mommy! Just you wait!"

Shinki stared blankly at the wall, her mind occupied with thoughts. _I am not your mother, Alice._ She thought to herself. _Your true mother is dead._

* * *

The surface world. It was much different from Makai. Unfamiliar things such as a "sky" and a "sun" could be found on the surface. Shinki was aware of this; she had been to Gensokyo before. It's just that she has yet to be accustomed to the peculiarities of the surface world. It was a nice change of pace to take a stroll through Gensokyo; she enjoyed the light breeze on her face, and being able to see fairies dance through the air, and many other sights that she found to be beautiful. She was lost in the grandeur of Gensokyo . . . until a sharp, piercing scream interrupted her train of thought. Her eyes snapped open in surprise. She looked around to find the source of the scream. She then started to hear what sounded like the sound of something being shredded to pieces. Finally, she saw what was happening; a group of youkai appeared to be attacking somebody. Shinki flew closer to get a better view, but in doing so, she got the attention of the youkai. These youkai stared at her with violent eyes. Shinki stopped, and glared back. The youkai charged at her with blinding speed. Before the youkai could touch her, Shinki held out one of her palms and fired what looked like a white laser blast. The youkai had been obliterated entirely. With the threat removed, Shinki flew to the site of where the youkai had been. What Shinki saw caused her jaw to drop; on the ground were a dead adult man and a dead adult woman, the both of them covered in lacerations with their blood and entrails staining the ground, but the most curious aspect of the scene was the sound of a crying baby. Shinki noticed that the crying was coming from beneath the dead woman. She lifted the woman's corpse and saw that a human baby was still alive, still cradled in the woman's arms. She breathed, "You're still alive? Are these your parents?" There was a pause. "I suppose you don't know speech, yet." Without thinking, Shinki took the baby from its dead mother's arms, "It's okay. You're safe now." She said, wiping the blood off of the baby's face and clothes, "I'll get you to somewhere safe."

The child she was carrying was wearing blue pajamas, and was surrounded by a white blanket. The baby's eyes were blue, and its hair was short and blonde. The red robed woman had flown away from the site of death and had come to a hillside. A cave opening was here, one that led to the more familiar realm of Makai. Shinki went inside the cave, with the baby still in her arms.

She went down to the lower levels, and all manners of bat youkai flew throughout the cave, although none of them attacked the red robed woman. They would always part away from her, as if they respected her, or as if they feared her. She did not speak a single word in her journey through the path home, and the baby girl was asleep, almost unnaturally quiet, as if the atmosphere had calmed her. Eventually, she reached the end of the path. She now found herself in the kingdom of Makai, where she ruled singlehandedly. She went straight for the large castle that loomed over everything. With a wave of her hand, the castle gates opened, and she went into her grandiose home.

She was now in what looked like a large, expansive room. When she entered, a girl approached her. She was dressed in a red maid's uniform, with a white apron attached to it. She had wavy blonde hair just past her shoulders, and her eyes matched the color of her hair. She greeted the woman in red, "Ah! Mistress Shinki! I trust your excursion to the surface was successful!" She then noticed something in her mistress' arms, "Hey, what are you carrying?"

Shinki responded, "A human infant. A girl. Her family was killed by a pack of youkai."

The maid recoiled, "R-Reallyǃ? Was she the only survivor?"

Shinki answered, "I'm afraid so. I saw them just as they were killing her mother. I destroyed them before they could cause anymore damage. A moment sooner, and I'm sure this child would have been lost to them."

The maid was still stunned, "T-That's horrible! I know humans aren't the rightful inhabitants of Gensokyo, but still, no one should have to go through something like that."

Shinki assured her maid, "Indeed, Yumeko. Gensokyo may not be safe for humans, but this little human will be safe here, in my kingdom."

* * *

Humans cannot survive for a long period of time in Makai, for the area is covered with an invisible air called miasma. Miasma is harmless to those who live in Makai for they have adapted to its presence, but surface dwellers cannot live in a miasma-filled space for an extended period of time. It had been a few days since Shinki had rescued the baby girl. Already, she has devoted a room in her castle for her guest, as well as new clothes and a crib for the baby. Right now, the child was wheezing, her eyes not fixated on anything in particular. The color in her cheeks was starting to fade. Shinki cradled the baby in her arms and brought her into the main throne room. Yumeko was waiting. She had a hint of apprehension in her voice, "Are you sure this is the only way, Mistress?"

Her mistress answered, "She is a part of our lives now, Yumeko. I can't take her back, for her parents are dead. It is up to us to raise her and protect her, and to do that, we will need to strengthen her body." She smiled, "Don't be scared; she'll thank us later." She placed the baby on the floor and stood away from her. She spread her arms. A red rune appeared on the floor of the room. Shinki floated, and started reciting, "I, goddess of Makai, do hereby transform this creature from a human to a youkai! She will now be a part of my kingdom!" The runes became brighter and brighter, until all that was visible was a sea of red. Within seconds, the rune disappeared, and everybody's vision was returned to normal.

Yumeko picked up the baby and examined her, "She doesn't look any different; are you sure such a spell can even work?"

Shinki responded, "I am absolutely certain. Remember, the youkai that killed her parents looked identical to humans; it might be how they got the jump on them. You've no reason to doubt my ability. In fact, just look at her; her breathing is already stabilized."

The maid looked at the baby, and the infant giggled, and Yumeko couldn't help but giggle back, "I guess she's already thankful!"

* * *

A few weeks had passed since the child was turned into a youkai. She could crawl great distances, and stand on her knees, but she couldn't walk yet. Shinki and Yumeko took turns to care for her. During one of these occasions, Shinki was holding the girl in her arms, giving her a tour of the castle. "And this is where we hold banquets!" She announced while she was in a large dining room.

She was interrupted by Yumeko, "I beg your pardon, but there is something I must ask."

"Speak your mind."

"Do you know the girl's name, Mistress?" Yumeko asked.

"No, I don't." Shinki looked the baby in her eyes. "Say, what is your name?"

"Wah wah. Wah wah wah." was all the girl could manage.

"Wah wah? That doesn't sound like a human name." Shinki noted.

Yumeko interjected, "If she did have a name, it's probably lost now. The humans would probably assume she and her family are dead by now. And I don't think anyone in their village would divulge such information to us."

"True," Shinki remarked, "but you have a valid point. I don't want to just call her 'the girl' or 'the baby' anymore. She needs a proper name, but what though?"

"I wouldn't know, milady." Yumeko said, "I'm terrible at coming up with names."

Shinki looked puzzled, "Hmm, what could we name a girl like you? A girl from the surface, in a world not the one you originally came from? Your family wrongfully taken away from you? And your mind and body like that of a youkai now instead of a human? What name would be deserving of you?"

Yumeko sounded off, "I don't know, uh, Mizuki? Sakura? Misaki?"

Shinki shook her head, "No no, those are too commonplace. I need a name for a girl who is unorthodox."

Yumeko continued, "Komari? Uh, Chisato?"

"I've got it!" Shinki boisterously shouted.

"Got what?" Yumeko asked.

"I have decided a name for the girl." Shinki began to elaborate, "Tell me Yumeko, are you familiar with a work of literature known as 'Alice in Wonderland'?"

"No, milady. I'm not." Yumeko said.

Shinki continued, "It was a novel written by a human living in a region called Britain. The story is about a girl named Alice, who finds herself in a world called Wonderland, which is very different from the world she was originally from." She then glanced at the baby, "This girl was originally from Gensokyo, yet ended up in Makai, a very different world from the one she was originally from. And not only that, the character of Alice is described as having yellow hair and blue eyes, much like this girl. Therefore, I shall name her Alice."

Yumeko commented, "Yes, but, don't humans normally have two names; a given name and a family name? What would her other name be?"

Shinki thought for a moment, "Alice would be her given name, and considering that is a name from the English language, her family name should also be of English origin." She paused to think.

Yumeko apologized, "I am sorry, but I am not familiar with the English language as you are, milady. You'll have to come up with one on your own."

Shinki stated, "That's alright. I believe I already have a family name for her. How about Margatroid? Her full name can be Alice Margatroid."

* * *

Shinki had replayed the same scenes in her head countless times by that point. A voice interrupted her thoughts, "Mistress Shinki, are you alright?"

Turning around, she saw Yumeko addressing her. "Oh, yes. I was just deep in thought." She cleared her throat, "Was there something you wanted to tell me?"

Yumeko said, "There are intruders from the surface attacking Makai."

Shinki became startled, "Intrudersǃ? Why?" Her voice became more authoritative, "How many are thereǃ?"

Yumeko answered, "Not many, but they are attacking our residents. What do you want to do?"

Shinki ordered, "Protect this castle. Do not let them come in here."

Yumeko bowed, "Understood, milady."

The maid took her leave, and Shinki went into Alice's bedroom. The girl was working on the doll she presented earlier, "Oh hi, Mommy! Came to check up on me?"

Shinki's tone did not match Alice's, "Alice, there is something I need to warn you about."


	13. Chapter 13

It started off like any other day at the Shrine; Misao got up first to prepare breakfast. Reimu woke up slightly later, aroused by the sweet scent of udon being prepared. She dressed herself in her red-and-white robe, fixed her hair in a ponytail with a large red ribbon, and proceeded to the kotatsu. "I smell something yummy!" She excitedly exclaimed.

Misao responded, "I'll bet! It's just like what my own mother taught me; there are two alarm clocks that work better than any other; one is the scent of good food."

"And the other?"

"Your bladder." Misao deadpanned.

Reimu giggled, "It's so true!"

Misao brought two bowls of udon to the kotatsu, as well as a pair of chopsticks for the both of them. She smiled, "Okay, you know what to say by now."

The two of them placed their hands in prayer and recited, "Thank you for the meal!"

Reimu picked up her chopsticks, anxious to dig into the udon her aunt had made. Right before she could pick up some udon, a flash appeared and tore the chopsticks right out of her hand, "Huhǃ?"

"A fairy!" Misao yelled. "Hold still, Reimu; I'll get it for you." She saw the fairy flying around randomly in the shrine, produced needles in her hand, and threw where she anticipated the fairy would go. The needles struck the fairy, and it disappeared, and the chopsticks fell onto the ground. "I'm gonna take a look outside." she said. A moment later, Reimu could hear Misao saying, "Uh oh."

"What is it?" Reimu asked as she ran out.

Her eyes went wide as she saw that the shrine was surrounded by a throng of fairies. Misao ordered, "Stay in the shrine; I'll take care of this." Reimu dashed into the shrine while Misao took off from the ground in flight. She made gestures with her hand, the kind of which to summon divine power. A blinding explosion formed in front of her, away from the shrine. After the flash, all of the fairies in front of her had vanished. She turned around and fired off a smorgasboard of danmaku: o-fuda cards, needles, homing shots, and yin-yang orbs. One by one, the fairies were eliminated. Upon seeing the awe-inspiring power of the shrine maiden, the remaining fairies scattered and flew away. Misao returned to the kotatsu, "There were a lot of fairies outside, but I got rid of them. Here, I got you a new set of chopsticks."

And with that, Reimu and Misao ate the udon. Later in the morning, Misao said aloud, "It's my day to do chores, so I better get started." She pondered, "maybe I'll do some laundry." She washed the robes she and Reimu hadn't worn for a while by hand, then set them to dry on the clothesline . . . or rather, she was going to. "Now all I have to do is pin this to the wire and-" a blur flew in front of her, and a red-and-white robe had vanished with it. "WHATǃ?" She looked to see a fairy run off with the robe she was going to hang. She took off flying toward the fairy, "Oh no you don't!" She fired needles from her hand to dispose of the fairy. By then, she noticed she had strayed somewhat from the Shrine . . . and that she was surrounded by a horde of fairies yet again. "This isn't right! There's never this many fairies out! Unless-" she reflected as she annihilated the fairies with her danmaku, "an incident is occurring." She flew back to the Shrine. "Reimu! Reimu! Where are you?"

Reimu stepped out, "I'm here, Aunt Misao. What is it, now?"

Misao sounded off, "Reimu, I have reason to believe-" she paused for a breath, "-that an incident is taking place."

Reimu questioned, "An incident? Why would you say that?"

Misao responded, "There is an unnaturally high number of fairies about right now. They're coming from somewhere in the north. You should go and find out." Then she suddenly added, "And _don't_ groan and say I should go instead. You're going to take over someday, and you've already handled three incidents very well. And don't forget Genji; he'll be of great service again."

Reimu took this all in and yelled, "Right! Oh, and I wouldn't have groaned; I wanna solve this as much as you do. I don't want fairies interrupting my breakfast ever again!"

Misao affirmed, "Yes! I'll protect the Shrine as always, and you go once you're ready."

Reimu nodded and prepared herself, not forgetting her gohei and the Hakurei Yin-Yang orbs by her side. She marched to the pond where Genji lived, which was not far from the Shrine. She got near the edge and shouted, "Genji, get your shelled butt up here! We have an incident!"

A splash formed as the tortoise flew out of the water and near the shrine maiden, "Ah, Lady Reimu; you are in need of my services again?"

Reimu answered, "Yeah. There's youkai everywhere. I need you to fly me."

Genji bowed his head, "I understand." He flew out of the pond and floated near Reimu, "Let us not waste anytime."

Reimu smiled, "My thoughts exactly!" She stood on his back and he took to the air. The shrine maiden observed a wave of fairies, "You see those fairies? We're going to wherever they are coming from! Fly fast and agile-ly!"

Genji noted, "I believe you mean to say, 'Fly swiftly and nimbly' milady."

Reimu pouted, "Well I'm _sorry_ if I can't sound as cool as you!"

She had no further time to complain, for fairies were zeroing in on her. With her Hakurei Yin-Yang orbs floating by her sides, she fired homing danmaku at the incoming onslaught. She vaporized several fairies and scared away many more. Genji continued his flight toward where the fairies were coming. More fairies came, and Reimu continued firing danmaku shots. This cycle continued for several more minutes. Reimu was exhausted from fending off all of the fairies that were coming for her. Genji relayed, "I sense we are near the origin of the fairies, as well as . . . oh no." he concluded.

"What?"

"I sense; a very familiar presence." He stated, "And a being of extreme power."

Reimu took this to be a sign of danger, but boasted, "Whatever; I'll fight anyone else who stands in my way!"

Just then, she saw what Genji was referring to; a cave at the foot of a mountain. She saw some figures firing danmaku at fairies coming out of the cave. As she got closer, she saw that there were three people attacking youkai fairies. These three people were . . . _a little girl with blonde hair dressed like a witch, a green-haired demon spirit __woman,_ and another green-haired woman that she didn't recognize. The party of three caught sight of the girl on the turtle. What followed was a cacophony of voices.

"What? WHAAAAATǃ?" "You again! Why do you always so up when I _don't_ want you aroundǃ?" "Is that anyway to greet the future head of the Hakurei Shrine?" "Oh, you remembered your tortoise friend this time; good, maybe now you'll actually be a worthy challenge-" "I don't have time for games! This is a serious situation here!" "Please everyone, just calm down, there's no need to-"

A large laser blast fired into the cave, incinerating some fairies. Reimu saw the green-haired woman fire that from her umbrella. Her eyes went wide from seeing that. The woman then said, "Let's keep things orderly, shall we?" She floated up to Reimu, "A Hakurei shrine maiden, I take it?"

Reimu answered, "Uh, y-yes, but, how did you know?"

The woman replied, "Oh, it's quite obvious. All Hakurei women have that look you have: dark eyes and hair, red-and-white clothes, short and slender build, though I don't think I've ever seen a Hakurei as tiny as you before."

Reimu pouted, "I'm still a kid!"

The woman chuckled to herself, "Oh wait, where are my manners? I am Yuka Kazami. I'm from The World of Dreams. I've come to put an end to this youkai invasion. What about you?"

Reimu stated, "I too have come to resolve this incident. However, what I want to know is," she pointed at Marisa and Mima, "What are you doing with _them?_"

Yuka smiled and said, "Oh, them? They're just tagging along. They're not friends of mine." She looked at Genji, "But where did you get that tortoise?"

Genji replied, "I am Genji. I have dutifully served the Hakurei clan for three generations. I am assisting Lady Reimu in her quest. However, I sense that you yourself are a youkai, and one of extreme power. How can I be sure your motives are pure?"

Yuka reassured, "Oh, simple! I have very good reason for exterminating these youkai; not only have they invaded my home dimension," her voice became more hostile, "_they also defiled my garden. They deserve nothing less than execution._"

Marisa visibly winced from hearing that. Reimu's eyebrows were raised. Genji consulted, "Can she come with us? She is obviously of the most dangerous breed of youkai; the kind that are polite right up until you offend them."

Reimu answered, "She took out those fairies like nothing. She can come, but I still want to know what _those two_ are doing."

Mima declared, "Marisa is training herself on youkai extermination, and I want to make sure no fairies overrun Gensokyo once I take control of this land."

Reimu gritted her teeth, "You are _not_ taking Gensokyo for yourself, not while I'm still alive! Gensokyo belongs to everyone, not just whoever is the most powerful!"

Mima looked puzzled, "Oh really? Did you come to that conclusion yourself, or did your family decide that answer for you?"

Reimu looked aside and stuttered, "Uh, uh-"

"-It's true, isn't it?" Mima smiled. "You can't think for yourself. Eh, wouldn't expect anything less from a child born into your family."

Genji raised his voice, "Do NOT speak ill of Lady Hakurei! Need I remind you that she bested you in combat, and that she could easily do so again, especially now since she's more skilled since the last time you dueled?"

Mima threw her arms up, "I know. That's what's so infuriating about you; you annoy me, but if I try something, you'll very likely be the death of me. But this bickering isn't getting us anywhere; let's go into the cave already and get this over with."

Yuka added, "I couldn't agree more."

Marisa exclaimed, "Alright! Just don't get in my way, red-and-white girl, if you know what's good for you!"

Reimu sighed, "Yeah, yeah."

The shrine maiden, the tortoise, the witch, the spirit, and the youkai all flew into the cave.


	14. Chapter 14

The cave was wide enough to accompany the five outsiders flying in. With Reimu's gohei in hand, Marisa's wand armed, Mima's scepter in hand, and Yuka's umbrella prepared, the four of them plus Genji were prepared for anyone who stood in their path. Fairies came from the opposite direction, either in hopes of fleeing to the surface, or hoping to vanquish the intruders. This was pointless on their part, for the combined danmaku of a Hakurei miko, a descendent of a youkai hunter, a spirit of Jigoku, and a youkai of the World of Dreams was enough to obliterate the fairies before they got too close. Yuka smiled a smug smile, "This is fun, wouldn't you agree?"

Reimu cocked an eyebrow, "Fun? You consider this _fun?_ I consider it dangerous!"

Yuka chuckled, "Of course! Slaughtering fairies is fun since they reincarnate! You feel no moral qualm in doing so, and it is invigorating for both the mind and body!" Just then, a veritable wall of fairies came from the depths of the cave. Yuka commanded, "Fall back. I'll deal with them." Reimu, Genji, Mima, and Marisa distanced themselves from the youkai. Yuka aimed the tip of her umbrella at the wall. A gigantic green beam of light materialized in front of her, and the wall of fairies disappeared with the beam.

Marisa was stunned, "Wow! How do you do thatǃ? What's that calledǃ?"

Yuka, still smiling, replied, "That's a spell called Master Spark. A youkai of my power can wield it with ease."

Marisa became giddy, "Can I learn how to do thatǃ?"

Yuka laughed a delightful laugh, "You? A human? And a human infant at that? No."

Marisa narrowed her eyes, "Hey! I'm not an infant! I can fly! And shoot these!" She fired green and yellow stars out of her wand which, unbeknownst to her, killed some faraway fairies.

Yuka continued, "Yes, but you can't channel that much raw energy. Mima could, and the Hakurei girl might also, but I doubt you can."

Marisa boasted, "You can't know that until I try! Just tell me how to do it! It might work!"

Yuka sighed, "Fine. If it'll shut you up." She cleared her throat. "First, you need an item to channel the Master Spark. I have my umbrella, and your wand might work too. Then, if you see someone you don't like, point the object of your channeling at the person you don't like. Concentrate your mind, body, and spirit into your object of deliverance, and when you've concentrated enough, unleash the annihilation within you!"

Marisa smiled, "That doesn't sound so hard! I'll try that the next time we get swamped!"

She said that as another wave of fairies approached. "You mean like right now?" Yuka asked with a smile.

"Yeah!" Marisa boasted. She pointed her wand at the fairies. With her eyes closed in concentration, she then shouted, "FIRE MASTER SPARK!" The end result was a skinny blue laser, not unlike the kind that she fired in the past. "Huhǃ?" she managed to enunciate before evading the shots from the fairies.

Reimu summoned borders around the fairies. The borders fired off yin-yang orbs that eliminated the incoming fairies. "Geeze, Marisa! Could you for once not be so wrecklessǃ? Look what your blunder made me have to do!"

Yuka, undisturbed by what just happened, said nonchalantly, "I told you most humans can't learn the Master Spark. You're going to need much more practice before you can even attempt such a spell."

Marisa exclaimed, "Oh trust me, I'll learn a way! I can't let a spell like that happen before my eyes and then _not_ learn it somehow!"

* * *

Shinki kneeled down to Alice's eye level. "You must stay put. Do not leave this room. I will deal with the intruders."

Alice questioned, "Is someone gonna get hurt?"

Shinki sighed and said, "Possibly, but so long as you don't leave, you should be fine. Yumeko and the fairy sentries will protect you."

Alice resigned, "Okay."

Shinki got up and began to leave the room, "I will be back. I promise." And with that, she was gone.

Alice couldn't sit still. She felt bad that her foster mother was going to fight bad guys by herself. She wanted to help her. Luckily for her, there was a window nearby. Now all that was left to do was find the invaders.

* * *

The cavernous passage that the party had flown through had now opened up into a delta of sorts that included an entire city underground. There were numerous lights emanating from the windows of the underground structures, giving the city an ethereal glow.

"Wooooow." "How pretty." "Interesting."

After looking upon the city for the first time, Reimu pondered, "So, where do we go from here?"

Yuka mused, "The most impressive structure is that Occidental castle over there, so I would imagine that's the most important place here."

The outsiders turned to face the castle when a youthful voice interrupted them, "Stop right there!" A small girl with short blonde hair that was wearing a pink dress appeared before them, "You are not supposed to be here! Turn back now!"

Reimu pointed out, "The youkai from here are disrupting the peace of the people on the surface! We came to put an end to that!"

The girl shouted, "No, it's _you_ who's disrupting the peace here! I came to put a stop to your invasion!"

Mima noted, "What's this? Another little girl has come to make my life miserable?"

The child responded, "I'm not just any girl; I'm Alice, the favored subject of Makai! I'm a youkai that is a master of dolls!"

Mima grinned, "Oh, you hear that, Reimu? She's a youkai, so she's fair game for me."

Yuka advised to Alice, "Are you sure it's a good idea to take on all of us by yourself? You're badly outnumbered as it is."

Alice boasted, "Of course! That's why I brought my dolls!" She pulled out two dolls that looked like little fairies in red dresses. The dolls were tethered to strings held by Alice's fingers, "DIE!" she shouted as she fired red sphere and triangle-shaped danmaku.

Reimu, Genji, Marisa, and Mima tried their best to evade Alice's barrage. Marisa shouted, "Dang! Her shots are everywhere!"

Alice's dolls then fired a string of white spheres that homed in on the various invaders. Reimu shrieked as she ducked to avoid the shots. "Hold tight, Lady Reimu!" Genji exclaimed.

Yuka was not evading the danmaku shots. She held her umbrella in front of her, and her umbrella nullified any shots that hit it. "Whatever you're attempting, it's useless!" She said with a smile. With one free hand, she fired back at Alice.

Mima told Marisa, "See? You don't have to worry about Yuka! She's helping-"

-POW! The homing shots from the fairies struck Yuka from behind, "GYAAGH!" She screamed.

"Ha! Don't try using a barrier against me, invader! I can still beat you!" Alice proclaimed as she now started to fire red lasers.

"Yuka, are you okayǃ?" Reimu asked as Yuka fell behind.

"I'll survive, but you fight without me. I'll catch up later." Yuka answered.

Mima weaved through the laser curtain while trying to fire back. "Nevermind what I said. We'll just have to take her down ourselves!"

Reimu queried, "But howǃ? It's impossible for any of us to get an opening in this kind of attack!"

Marisa dodged the lasers and homing shots without firing back. A thought ran across her head as she did this, _It is an elemental reactor. Think of it as a device that enhances magic._ "That's it!" She blurted out.

"What's it?" Reimu wondered.

"The reason Yuka's magic didn't work!" Marisa ordered, "Get back, everyone! I'm gonna settle this with one shot!"

"Oh, you're not seriously gonna try using Yuka's spell _again,_ are youǃ?" Reimu said with exasperation.

"I've never been more serious about anything in my life!" She shouted.

Mima threw up her arms, "When she gets like this, you better do what she says." And with that, Mima, Genji, and Reimu retreated.

Alice, still firing, taunted, "Ah ha! It's just you now! I knew coming here was the right thing to do!"

_Concentrate your mind._ Marisa's fingers gripped the wood block she had hidden in her dress pocket. _Channel your magic tenderly into the mini-hakkero._ Alice was grinning in a cocky manner. _Aim at someone you don't like._ Marisa pointed the side of the artifact with the trigrams at the blonde youkai. _Now unleash your annihilation of love!_ Marisa screamed at the top her lungs, "MASTER SPAAAARK!" A gigantic green laser shot forth from the mini-hakkero, destroying all of the danmaku that got in its way, and consuming Alice in the process.

"OOOOWWWWWWWW!" Alice yelped. Her dolls were destroyed, and her hair and dress had become singed once the laser wore out. She turned away and flew back in the direction of the castle, sobbing loudly in pain.


	15. Chapter 15

Marisa's face was smug. Reimu, Genji, and Mima were visibly stunned by what they saw. Yuka caught up to the others despite her injury, but she look positively nerve-wracked. She floated up to Marisa, "How? _How?_"

Marisa replied, "Well I suppose 'infants' _can_ learn powerful magic, can they?" She was lightly tossing and catching her mini-hakkero, "I guess you don't know that magical reactors like this can help us 'mere' humans fire danmaku that could make even youkai shake in their boots, eh?"

Yuka spotted the mini-hakkero, "A magical reactor, of course." She cleared her throat, "Well then, you punished that intruder well enough; let us proceed to the castle, and be done with our business." The party flew off toward the looming castle in the distance.

Mima whispered into her disciple's ear, "Let me know where you can find one of those reactors once we get back on the surface, okay?"

* * *

Shinki and Yumeko were flying away from their home. The silver-haired woman said, "This shouldn't take too long. Once I rid ourselves of the intruders, we can continue with our usual-"

Her speech was cut by the sight of Alice flying in her direction, crying loudly. The child's clothes were singed from danmaku, "Mommy! Help me!" She shouted through tears.

Shinki and Yumeko both reacted, "Alice!"

Shinki took Alice into her arms, "Alice, I had instructed you not to leave your room."

Alice sobbed, "I know, but I didn't wanna do nothing while bad people caused trouble! I wanted to help you! So I left shortly after you did, but . . ." she continued crying.

Shinki looked at Alice straight in the eye, "Listen to me; that was wrong of you to leave the castle without my telling you. I told you to stay behind because I feared the possibility that the intruders may be dangerous. You could've been killed just now, don't you realize that? Yumeko and I couldn't live with the thought of you dying before either of us." She then raised her head, "Yumeko, return Alice to her room, then meet me out here."

"Understood."

* * *

A few more fairies appeared, but the invaders had no problem disposing of them. "Maybe we killed most of them?" Reimu thought aloud.

"Be still, everyone!" Genji warned.

"Huh? What for?" Marisa wondered.

"There is a great power source approaching our position. Brace yourselves." Genji intoned.

Within seconds, a woman in a red robe appeared. Her face was in a scowl. She spoke in a grave manner, "I don't know who you people are, but I insist you leave at once. Makai does not need surface dwellers like yourselves here."

Reimu asked, "And why should we listen to you, because you can talk?"

The red-robed woman answered, "I am Shinki, lord of Makai. Everything here is my creation. You are not welcome here. Leave before I have you killed."

Yuka stated, "Oh, what's this? Youkai from this realm have brought great harm to my garden, not to mention that they have become quite the nuisance on the surface, and you have the nerve to threaten _us?_ Don't make me laugh."

Shinki's frown became more pronounced, "The inhabitants of Makai are currently touring the lands connected to Makai, but if they are causing trouble, I will forbid such activity in the future, _however_, the reason I threatened death is because at least one of you brought harm upon my daughter, which I will not tolerate."

Marisa felt uneasy, "Wait, that girl with the dolls is your daughter?"

Shinki said, "In a sense, yes. If I call off the free tours outside of Makai, will you leave?"

Reimu started to say, "Yes, that's what we-"

Mima cut in, "Unacceptable! I see through your lies and deception; you mean to invade Gensokyo!"

Shinki became astonished, "What! No! That's a lie!"

Mima sneered, "Really? Then why is there an unnaturally high number of fairies on the surface? You're trying to take my territory away, aren't you?"

Shinki shook her head, "You're wrong. I'm not invading anybody. The fairies that have gone to the surface are not acting at my behest."

Mima smirked, "I know that tone. That's the tone of a liar. I would know."

Reimu said, "But Mima, you lie a lot. How do we know you're not just accusing her for your own purposes?"

Mima answered, "Well, do you have any reason to believe her, miko child? What proof do you have that she's being honest?"

Shinki shouted, "I will not stand for these accusations! Leave at once!"

Marisa countered, "But I need more practice!"

Yuka added, "And I enjoy burning fairy youkai."

Reimu asked Genji, "Genji, can this lady be trusted?"

Genji told, "I cannot be for certain."

Mima stated, "Well then, regardless of what my companions say, the truth is, you're encroaching on my territory, and I won't allow that."

A blonde woman dressed like a maid appeared. Shinki said to her, "Yumeko, dispose of these vile creatures for me. Fight them as if you mean to kill them."

Yumeko became startled, "What? Kill? Are you seri-"

"_-Do it_, Yumeko. That is an order. When you are done, return to the castle. I'll be waiting there." She turned around and flew away.

Reimu became shocked, "Wait . . . you're gonna kill us!"

Yumeko answered, "If the mistress wills it, then it shall be so." A Barrier of knives materialized around her.

"Watch out!" Genji warned.

The knives flew off in every direction. Yumeko's opponents evaded the onslaught, then fired back. Before any danmaku could hit Yumeko, her body became translucent. The shots passed through her, and she flew closer to Marisa. "Huh! My shots went right through her!" The witch said, panicking as the maid drew closer to her.

Yumeko's body became whole as she fired red triangle danmaku. Marisa moved away to avoid the shots, only to find the red triangles continued following her, "Gah! They keep coming after me!"

Reimu began casting an incantation. Within seconds, Yumeko was surrounded by a border, but before she could be bombarded by red-and-white yin-yang orbs, she turned translucent and flew out of the trap. "That's getting really annoying!" Reimu yelled.

Marisa noted, "Between that and her homing shots, I'd say we're in big trouble!"

Yuka asserted, "Not if I have anything to say about it." with a smile. Yumeko had made knives materialize around herself again, and also started firing blue lasers in every direction. As the knives began to fly, Yuka pointed her parasol and fired the Master Spark. The gigantic green blast had wiped out the knives and the laser blasts . . . and Yumeko became whole again.

"It is useless!" Yumeko boasted, "I cannot be harmed, for I can make my body ethereal!"

"We can see that." Mima noted flatly. "We'll still beat you, though."

Marisa queried, "But how! Everything we shoot at her goes right through her!" She said that as she avoided another wave of knives.

Mima responded, "It's not so much she's impossible; it's rather we have a lack of coordination. She can't fire when she's not whole. Therefore, I will lead, and you will all follow up."

"What? Follow up?" Reimu asked.

Mima made her scepter materialize. She charged at Yumeko to physically strike her. The maid turned translucent, and the spirit flew right through her. Within seconds, Yumeko rematerialized and fired homing red danmaku at Mima. Right then, Reimu, Marisa, and Yuka saw Yumeko's back to them. They realized what Mima meant and opened fire on her. For once, the shots connected. Yumeko growled in torment.


	16. Chapter 16

Just as Yumeko had been knocked unconscious, Yuka made a smile and said, "Well, the girl has been incapacitated, and that leader said she would call off the attacks. I've finished what I've come here to do. I shall now take my leave. Nice meeting you all." The youkai flew back to the entrance.

Reimu yelled, "Hey wait!"

Genji told the shrine maiden, "She's right. We have accomplished our mission. I do not see anymore fairies. We should return home before anything worse happens."

Reimu breathed a sigh, "Well then, my job's done. See you later, you two." She glared at Mima, "And remember our promise!" Genji floated away, with Reimu on his back.

Marisa looked at Mima, "Okay, so we beat up that maid girl, what's left now?"

Mima looked at the castle, "That woman, that's who's left."

"A castle raid? That sounds like great practice for my danmaku! I wonder if I can level that place with that spell I just learned."

The two of them went to the castle entrance. The door was massive, tall, and closed. "That spell Yuka used, do you believe I could use it as well? Wait, don't answer that." She pointed her scepter and fired laser blasts. None of them were as large as a Master Spark, but the lasers did blast open the door. "Hmm, maybe such firepower is unnecessary."

The two of them proceeded inside. The castle was majestic in appearance, and a number of fairies greeted them by firing danmaku bullets. Marisa and Mima responded in kind, vaporizing the fairies. "I've gotten a lot better at killing these things!" Marisa boasted.

Mima added, "Yes. For a which, exterminating weak youkai comes second nature."

The two were about to explore the castle until Shinki appeared. "Are you not satisfiedǃ?" She bellowed.

Mima glanced at her target, "I can't be satisfied, not knowing a threat like you exists."

Shinki could barely contain her anger, "What threat do you speak ofǃ? I'm not invading anyone!" Red lines like veins began to form on her hand.

"Uh, Mima-sama, she's starting to scare me." Marisa murmured.

Before Mima could answer her, blue spheres grazed their faces. "FLEE! NOW!" Shinki ordered.

"Not until you're out of the way!" Mima screamed. She swung her scepter and fired back.

The room was filled with magic bullets. Yellow and green stars filled up one half of the room, and blue spheres and blue dagger-like shots filled the other half. Marisa was unable to fire back, for she was too busy maneuvering to avoid the blasts. The walls of the castle were beginning to crumble from the constant beating of the danmaku shots. Marisa shrieked, "Aggggh! I can't get an opening!"

Mima, between flying and firing, said to her protege, "Marisa, you've done very well today. You are much more skilled in danmaku than I thought possible. Go back to the surface; your family is waiting. I have something I need to take care of here."

Marisa complained, "But Mima-sama, I wanna help you win this!"

Mima stated, "This is too dangerous for you, Marisa. If you were to disappear, it would arouse suspicion in the village. Go, _now._ I'll come waiting for you at the usual time and place."

Marisa yelled over the shots, "Okay then!" She turned back and flew out of the castle. Thanks to her speed, she was able to exit the castle quickly, and began to make for the entrance to the surface.

* * *

The castle's masonry held strong, even as countless shots pelted it from within. Alice flew into the entrance hall, only to find Mima attacking Shinki. "You againǃ?" She shouted.

"Alice! It's too dangerous in here!" Shinki warned. "Get out of the castle! Take your dolls just in case!"

"Yes, Mommy!" She made her way back into her room. She found a few of her dolls. There was also a large black book sitting on a table that read "The Grimoire of Alice" in English. She took that, her dolls, and flew out of the window. Once outside, she caught a glimpse of the blonde-haired girl who had embarrassed her earlier that day. "I'll show you!" She thought to herself as she gave chase.

* * *

"Guh!" Shinki gasped in pain. Her robe was getting torn and singed from Mima's barrage. "Alice has left. There's no point in holding back, even if I must destroy my home." A bright flash temporarily blinded Mima. When the flash was gone, Shinki was sporting six large white wings on her back, wings that had red runes running through them. The tips of Shinki's wings fired white spheres, and her hands fired yellow spheres that homed directly on Mima.

"EEEYAAAAAGH!" Mima cried as her body was pushed back past the castle walls. Her clothes were similarly torn from the constant barrage of danmaku. Even as blood trickled down from her forehead, she smirked and said, "I see; we are cut from the same cloth, you and I." She held her scepter above herself. Shinki was blinded by a white flash that lasted for a second. After the flash, Mima appeared to be sporting two large blue bat-like wings coming out of her back. She made a grin, "Same species, different region. You're a denizen of Hell, I know what you desire."

"SILENCE!" Shinki bellowed. She had followed Mima outside to continue firing what would look like to an outside observer a curtain of blue daggers, white spheres, and yellow spheres that homed in on Mima, while Mima fired a curtain of green and yellow stars, blue flames, and spheres of a red, blue, green, and purple hue. Back and forth they went, continually shooting each other, hurting each other, never backing down from each other. Some of Mima's shots destroyed more of the castle, while Shinki's shots sometimes destroyed faraway structures. Shinki gritted her teeth. "So it is; you're from Hell. Not Makai, but a region of Hell, it is obvious. Why else would you destroy my kingdom without provocation?"

Mima, sounding much more calm than Shinki, answered, "Well, I knew after I took Gensokyo, I would have to conquer Makai eventually. I suppose I'll just take it a little earlier than I imagined."

Shinki stated, "I see what it is. You're a dominator. You seek control, and you'll use whatever means to obtain that control. I don't know what drove you to do such a thing, But I warn you now, nothing good will come out of it."

Mima stopped firing. "Oh? What's this? You're trying to talk me out of my mission? Sorry, no can do. I will answer one question of yours; the reason I seek control is because I hate not being in control, simple as that."

Shinki stopped firing. Her breaths were heavy. She whispered to herself, "You monster." She took in a few more breaths, "You would destroy everything I hold dear, just so you could claim this land as your own? No. I can't let that happen, I _won't_ let that happen!" Her voice sharply increased in volume, "I WOULD RATHER SEE MAKAI BURN THAN FALL TO THE LIKES OF YOU!" The white of her wings turned purple, and the red runes ran not just through her hands and wings, but throughout her entire body. Her fingers shot off red triangle danmaku, and the tips of her wings began to fire large purple spheres.

Mima could not avoid all of the shots, due to the sheer volume of what was being thrown at her. Her body was covered in scars. She grimaced as she managed to enunciate, "So you finally show your true form. Heh! Guess there's no point in me holding back any longer." Her wings stretched out in length, no longer looking like bat wings, but more like the wings of a demon. Her wounds vanished instantly, almost as if she hadn't been shot at to begin with. She swatted away the purple spheres with her scepter and boasted, "I AM THE GREAT MIMA! I WILL NOT FALL!"

Upon seeing, Shinki fired off enough danmaku to blind her opponent. Mima's vision was covered in spheres, daggers, and triangles. In the clear of this onslaught was a Makai on fire; a storm of flames devouring everything in sight. The tips of Shinki's wings began concentrating enormous amounts of energy, as did Mima's scepter.

* * *

Yumeko regained consciousness while adrift in the air. Her body was sore, and were head was in intense pain. It took a few seconds before her eyes could focus on anything. Once they did, she saw bright lights in the distance, and heard two screams that were louder than anything she had ever heard in her life.

**"HEAGH!"**


	17. Chapter 17

Reimu saw the sunlight coming in from the entrance of the cave. As she did, Marisa sped past her. "Ha! I beat you two out!" She gloated.

Reimu told her, "This isn't a race, Marisa!"

Marisa claimed, "Maybe not for you, but for me, everything's a challenge that I hope to overcome!" Genji, Reimu, and Marisa were now outside, on the surface of Gensokyo again. Marisa asked, "Hey, where's that youkai woman?"

Reimu responded, "Probably already gone back to her home. She certainly didn't waste anytime leaving."

Marisa said, "Well then in that case, this was a job well done! I'll be going home now, so-"

"-Found you!" Cried a voice from behind. The three of them turned around to find Alice. She was holding a large book and bearing a cocky smile.

Marisa was agitated, "You againǃ? What, did one laser blast not knock enough sense into you?"

Alice snapped, "Quiet! I wasn't using the full extent of my power." She then opened her book, "But now . . . I will."

Genji warned, "Be careful, my lady!"

Reimu raised her gohei rod and warned, "Do not attack us, or we will make you regret it!"

Alice said to her, "Oh, I have no problem with you. I only wanna get back at the human witch girl."

Reimu did not back down, "I can't ignore a youkai who's about to attack a human! Even if you're fighting . . . _her_, then I must object!"

Marisa, not paying any heed to their conversation, noticed the book cover, "Hey, what are those runes on the cover?"

Alice snickered to herself, then replied, "Oh what? You can't read English?"

Marisa went, "Huh?"

Alice boasted, "Ha! You see, this book contains all of the incantations I need for my magic! Most of the spells I know are so complex, that I can't memorize them. You see, my magic is far beyond anything a human could ever master; even that laser trick of yours would be no match for me when I have this in hand!"

Reimu was still poised to strike, "Regardless, turn back now, because if you try to fight Marisa, I will join in, and you will wish your mom was here."

Alice narrowed her eyes at the shrine maiden, "Fine! Then I'll take on _all_ of you, for the crime of entering my homeland!" She turned to a specific page and began reading out loud, in a language that Reimu, Genji, and Marisa could not interpret. Just above Alice, an enormous white sphere, about a quarter of a kilometer in length, took form. It then shot off in Marisa's direction.

"AYE-EEEE!" Marisa screamed.

Alice taunted, "Oh? You want . . . _more__ǃ?_" Several gigantic white spheres materialized; they shot off at both Reimu and Marisa. The two of them had a difficult time evading the danmaku, for they had never encountered shots that large.

Marisa told Reimu, "Let me handle this, I'll just do like last time!" Reimu nodded, knowing what she meant. Marisa drew her mini-hakkero, and began concentrating power into it. After a sufficient amount of time, she fired a large green laser blast at Alice.

The youkai girl saw what was coming, and recited a different incantation from the book. An energy shield appeared before her, and adsorbed the blast. "Is that the best you can do, little humanǃ?"

Marisa gasped, "Uh, uh, I gotta get out of here!" She turned around to fly away.

Alice yelled, "Yeah, run you little coward! That's all you are, cowards!"

Reimu was about to retaliate, but Genji said aloud, "Wait . . . something's wrong."

Reimu said, "Huh?"

Genji continued, "I sensed something, or rather, I no longer sense something."

Reimu asked, "What do you mean?"

Genji answered, "That woman we encountered, the one Alice says is her mother, Shinki . . . I can no longer feel her presence."

Reimu and Marisa both stopped and looked confused. Alice murmured, "What?"

Genji stated, "It was almost like, her very presence just vanished. And not only that, I could feel a trace presence from Marisa's mentor from here, but now, I can't sense that either."

Alice became distraught, "Wait, what are you saying?"

Genji focused his eyes on the ground, "The only time a being of great magical power would suddenly vanish from my detection . . . is if they were to suddenly die."

Marisa became distraught herself, "What? _What__ǃ?_ Mima can't die! She's special!"

Alice shouted, "This better be a lie, turtle! You are _not_ distracting me from my duel!"

Genji responded, "I do not tell lies. I am going back to make sure. Is this okay, Lady Reimu?"

"Sure."

Genji flew back in the direction of Makai. He still felt apprehensive, "I still cannot sense their presence. I can't even sense the presence of the maid woman, either."

Alice bemoaned, "Stupid turtle! You're just trying to distract me! I'll show you myself!" She flew back into Makai. Reimu and Marisa followed her back in.

What awaited them was a sight that cause the blood in Alice's face to drain away, turning her pale. Makai was ablaze. Her home castle was in ruin. Reimu and Marisa were both too awed by the sight to say anything. Genji quietly said, "Except for a few fairies and ourselves, I can't sense anyone's presence, unless . . . Alice, does Shinki know relocation magic?"

Alice did not answer. She instead began to cry. She clutched her book tightly. Through her tears, she managed to say, "Why? Why?"

Marisa asked, "W-Was this . . . Mima's doing?"

Genji asked Alice again, "Alice, I need to know, can anyone here instantly teleport themselves?"

Alice, still crying, whispered aloud, "No."

Genji consulted, "Then there is no other explanation. If someone else had whisked them away, I would have sensed them, but I have not. All I sense . . . is a new nothingness. I am truly sorry, everyone.

Reimu looked at Alice, "I am sorry, too, Alice. We didn't mean for this to happen, but, there are some people on the surface who can look after you-"

"-_No._" Alice cut in.

"Huh?"

Alice was still crying, but her voice became laced with vitriol, "You've destroyed everything. You've destroyed my whole life."

Marisa corrected, "No we didn't! That was my teacher! My . . . I guess now dead teacher, is the one who did this, blame her!"

"NO!" Alice sharply cut in. She turned around with her book opened, "When you all arrived, it was the end of everything! You . . . you . . ." A large number of red flames surrounded her, "YOU KILLED MOMMY!"

The flames flew at Reimu and Marisa at an incredibly high speed. The two of them could barely avoid the shots. Reimu cried out, "Stop this!"

"NO!" Alice responded. She recited from the book again. This time, an entire wall of what looked like blue crystalline danmaku formed behind her. The shots fired forward. Reimu summoned yin-yang orbs to shoot out in front of her and Marisa to cancel out the shots coming for them.

Reimu insisted, "This isn't going to help things!"

Alice reacted by reciting from the book again. Numerous purple lasers fired directly at Reimu, Genji, and Marisa. The lasers scraped and burned the edges of the trio. This was then followed up by countless red spheres and red flames that homed in on both Reimu and Marisa. The two of them narrowly dodged this onslaught, but not without getting grazed in pain. Marisa pleaded, "Please stop! I don't wanna die! Not now!"

Alice threw open her arms and cried "NO!" in a very long and drawn out matter. Her body shot forth a wild, random assortment of danmaku; a white sun here, a purple laser there, a blue crystal to the left, a yellow triangle to the right. Her pattern was very disorganized, but since the shows were so numerous, it still enough of a threat to force Reimu and Marisa to be on the evasive.

Reimu persuaded, "This is meaningless! Killing us won't make anything better!"

Marisa added, "Yeah, and I can't let my parents know I died here and now!"

Genji reassured Alice, "What these children are trying to say is that even if you do manage to kill us all, doing so will not bring back your loved ones."

Upon hearing this, Alice stopped firing. She then began sobbing loudly. Genji floated up to her and gently said, "Come ride on my back. We'll take you somewhere safe, until we sort things out." Alice nodded her head and complied.

Reimu let Alice hug her for support. "You're covered in danmaku burns." Reimu noted. "Me too." She finished before she started sniveling.

Genji flew out of Makai and started heading for the shrine when Marisa told him, "I have a home to go to. I hope you don't mind."

Genji said, "Very well."

As Marisa turned to face the human village, Reimu said to her, "Marisa . . . take care."

Marisa replied, "Thanks, you too." She then flew off to the village.

Genji silently transported Reimu and Alice back to the Hakurei Shrine. Misao was waiting on the steps. When she saw Genji flying with two girls instead of one, she stood up with a concerned look on her face, "Hey Genji, who is that other kid?"

Reimu immediately jumped off and ran toward Misao, "Aunt Misao!" She yelled out before she wrapped her arms around her and buried her face into her torso. She choked, "It was so horrible!"

Misao put her hands around her niece's head. She asked, "Just what happened?"

Genji answered, "The good news is, we resolved the incident. The fairies have either been exorcised or routed out. As for the bad news," Genji paused in order to try to find the words he wanted to say.

* * *

Marisa was trying to think of a convincing lie to tell her parents and anyone else in the village who asked what happened to her. She was thinking of claiming that she fell on a hill and rolled down really quickly, then some fairies started shooting danmaku at her. _Yeah, that would probably work,_ she thought. However, another thought was troubling her mind, _was Mima really gone?_ If so, how would she learn witchcraft, aside from reading books she wasn't supposed to be reading? She would only know for sure on the next third Friday of the next month. When that time rolled around, she showed up at the entrance of the World of Dreams, but Mima never appeared. Confirming what she did not want to believe, she flew back to her home. Despite finally accepting what had happened on that day, her resolve to become a witch had not faltered. She still loved magic, and still sought to master it however she could.


	18. Chapter 18

Alice stayed with the shrine maidens for a couple of days until Misao was able to find a family in the village that was willing to adopt Alice. She stayed with her new family, building her dolls, establishing new relationships, but never forgetting what happened to Shinki. About a year had passed since that day. Alice had adjusted to her new life surprisingly well, in spite of her past hardships. On one seemingly unimportant day, Reimu was staying in the village, spending time with the rest of the Hakurei clan. Misao, on the other hand, had "Shrine Maiden duties" to tend to that did not involve training Reimu. Away from the shrine, and away from the village, indeed, away from any human sanctuary in Gensokyo, Misao appeared to be lost in the Forest of Magic. However, upon closer examination, she did not have the apprehension of a lost individual. She knew exactly where she was going, and what to expect. Her face made a semi-scowl, and she said something, as if someone was there, "I know you're there, Yukari Yakumo. You don't have to hide yourself from me."

Right after she said that, a rip in the space-time continuum opened up in front of her. This rip had two ribbons attached to the end, and purple eyes staring from within its abyss. A woman in a purple dress stepped out with a white umbrella in hand. She was noticeably taller than Misao, probably because she was in white high-heels. The woman named Yukari said, "Well I just wanted to make sure your precious successor wasn't around; she can't know about me just yet." Yukari looked closer at the aging shrine maiden, "Hmm, your face is certainly showing signs of wear-and-tear, and yet, your eyes are still as they were when you were a child. Tell me, how is it that the women of the Hakurei clan always have such beautiful brown eyes?"

Misao responded, "I didn't come here for you to remark on my looks. And for the record, I'm not _that_ old; I can still exterminate a horde of fairies with the greatest of ease."

Yukari retorted, "Yes, but you're four years away from turning half-a-century old. You can't deny that you're getting awfully aged for a guardian of the Boundary, but I know this isn't what you wanted to talk about. What is it you want?"

Misao said, "Reimu and I have been discussing an idea. We've discussed this idea with our family, as well as some of our friends, and now I want to tell you, youkai of boundaries. As you know, Reimu was involved in an incident in Makai about a year ago. During this incident, she rescued a girl named Alice. Alice's mother figure of sorts was killed during this incident, as well as the mentor to her witch friend Marisa. Reimu can't stand permanent death. The very concept frightens her. She believes there is a way for Gensokyans to fight each other without killing each other."

Yukari sounded rightfully confused, "Hmm? Are you proposing that humans and youkai fight without killing one another?" She let out a boisterous laugh, "How nonsensical! Gensokyans have been killing each other with magic since before I was even born! Why should I believe that a little girl's idea could work?"

"I knew you'd say something like that." Misao added.

"But hindsight is always perfect," Yukari interrupted, "Don't try to sound like you're more clever than me, Misao."

The shrine maiden continued, "Well regardless, Reimu and I ping-ponged some ideas, and we came up with this: you know how some magics are easy to perform, right? Things like flight, generating a light with your hand, or writing a message with just the tip of your finger, these things are easy to perform. Then there are the more strenuous magics, the ones that require an incantation, a time to charge up, a set of gestures to set into action. Reimu proposed that we could record the more difficult spells onto spell cards, and with these spell cards, you could duel in a battle with the enemy knowing that you are there."

Yukari observed, "Spell cards that make magic easier . . . I can get behind that, but why is it that the enemy must know that you're fighting them? What about the element of surprise?"

Misao continued, "Reimu lost a duel because someone sideswiped her without her knowing. She believes this to be unfair."

Yukari giggled, "Unfair? She couldn't know the concept of unfair. I have seen how humans wage war in the outside world. She's still just a child, and she still doesn't obviously know how the world really-"

A shot grazed her.

"SHUT UP! Don't you _dare_ talk about my niece that way! She's my sister's daughter, for Izanagi's sake!"

Yukari, unfazed by this, made a tsk sound, "Misao, you are currently the strongest human I know that isn't immortal, but even you know that it's futile to use force against me." She then grinned, "Or do all shrine maidens throw childish tantrums?"

Misao clenched her teeth, "What you said about war was a good point. I have read accounts of what happens in the outside world. Reimu thinks we can have duels and not have any of them end in death. That's what we're trying to tell you, we believe it could be done in Gensokyo." She then paused, "Or what? You can't accept an idea from a human, is that it?"

Yukari made a smirk, "I know humans tend not to be as knowledgeable as youkai due to lifespan differences, but whatever gave you the impression that I would be hateful toward humans? Aren't you aware that my favorite person of all time was a human?" She then made a frown, "And before you ask, no, it's not you or any of the other Hakurei woman, though you are all special in your own way."

Misao smirked, "Coming from you, I don't know if I should feel flattered or insulted." She continued, "But Reimu said that during the duels, the spell cards' effects can only last for so long. A spell that could be used indefinitely would be an unfair advantage, therefore, we have time limits. Another thing, well, this is probably just childish naivety on her part, but spells that are danmaku shall be composed of in beautiful patterns, not disorganized, random shots. Danmaku can be artful, and she wants the duels to please the eyes. And lastly, and most importantly, the spells used in the spell cards must be powered down in such a way that they cannot inflict serious harm or death." She then changed her tone, "I agreed that this was a solid idea when you consider this; people may want to duel with Reimu once she succeeds me. What if she were to die during that duel? The Boundary would be lost, and the very safety of Genoskyo would be placed in jeopardy. You accepted our clan as the architect and protector of the Boundary some 110 or so years ago. You should consider yourself fortunate that every generation of my family has produced an heir capable of using the Hakurei Yin-Yang orbs, and that we have not died out since then. That is luck that I do not wish to run out, and neither does Reimu, nor anyone else in the Village who agrees. That is why I come before you, Yukari Yakumo," She knelled down before the blonde youkai, "Please accept my niece's proposal for non-lethal duels."

Yukari looked upon the middle-aged woman and said, "The very notion that everyone should be on equal dueling grounds is absurd. Even if this is implemented, I don't see how something like a lowly fairy could fairly duel with a shrine maiden, even if these spell cards balances out their power. And secondly, do you really think that everyone in Gensokyo would want to use these spell cards?"

"Everyone who wants to duel will have to. It's part of the plan." Misao said.

Yukari continued, "Still, I would prefer it if I could sleep knowing that your precious student wouldn't die trying to protect Gensokyo from some nasty creature that just happened to get the best of her. I know of no family, no family within Gensokyo anyway, who could replace yours should you fall, so I shall consider your proposal, even if it did come from a human child."

Misao stood up and smiled, "Thank you, Yukari. You aren't the mean old hag people make you out to be."

Yukari looked astonished, "Me, a mean old hagǃ? How rude! My skin has yet to wrinkle!" She then looked Misao in the eye, "Did you have anything else to say to me?"

Misao answered, "Yes, two things. One, Reimu still doesn't know how to fly by herself. Flying is a requirement for succeeding my position, yet she still doesn't know how. I learned to fly when I was six, and yet, she still can't, and she's ten now. Do you have any suggestions?"

Yukari replied, "Well, when I want to teach Ran something, I motivate her, however, I motivate her without her knowing that I'm motivating her. Have you considered that?"

Misao questioned, "Why does that idea sound so . . . characteristic of you, and only you?"

Yukari chuckled, "Because it's been a tried-and-true method of mine for many centuries?"

Misao continued, "Nonetheless, if I can think of a way to do that, I just might. The sooner she can succeed me, the better."

Yukari stated, "Ah, looking forward to retirement now, are we?"

Misao smiled, "Yes, indeed. My other question is actually a favor. In the shrine, there is a mechanical girl dressed like a maid."

Yukari added, "Oh yes, that robot maid she won during that contest with the extra-dimensional beings."

Misao assured, "Yes. Well, it stopped working, we can't get it to work anymore, and we wanna get rid of it. No one's at the shrine right now, so you don't have to worry about Reimu learning about our connections just yet. Go to the shrine and form a gap to send the robot maid right in front of precisely where I am standing."

Yukari asked, "Well, you sure are asking a lot from me today, are you?"

Misao answered, "I didn't want to answer to your shikigami; I wanted to speak directly to the big cheese about everything. Now, will you help me take out the trash?"

Yukari said, "For someone as honest as you, maybe I will." She disappeared behind a gap. Within seconds, Ruukoto fell in front of Misao from a gap formed just above the robot. Yukari Appeared in front of the shrine maiden, "Will that be all for today?"

"Indeed."

Yukari queried, "Are you sure? You don't want me to take you home? I could do it instantly~!"

Misao shook her head, "No thanks. I'm fine."

"Very well." Yukari concluded, "I'll have Ran tell some of the other youkai about Reimu's idea. I do hope she is worthy of taking over your shrine eventually. Your family hasn't let me down yet."

Misao laughed, "You were right in choosing us to watch over the Boundary."

"So far, yes." A gap opened above Yukari, "I shall see you again, preferably after you've retired that robe." She flew up and disappeared along with the gap.

Misao looked at Ruukoto. Disappointment filled her eyes, "My niece went through a lot of trouble so that she could keep you, and this is how you repay herǃ?" She swung her gohei rod, striking Ruukoto on the side. She fell down, not moving at all. "I would rather leave you here for the fairies to dissect. Worthless machine." She flew into the air and returned to the human village.


	19. Chapter 19

Reimu woke up in the morning like she usually did. She stretched her body to relieve the tension in her muscles. She changed into her robe. She started to fix her hair, reached for her large red ribbon, and found . . . that her ribbon wasn't there. Curious, she began checking the rest of the shrine. Her search was fruitless. She found Misao wiping off dirt on the outside of the shrine. "Aunt Misao, have you seen my ribbon?"

Misao responded, "What are you talking about?"

Reimu said, "The ribbon I wear in my hair, I can't find it!"

Misao stopped doing her chore. "Really? Where have you looked?"

The younger Hakurei answered, "Everywhere in the shrine."

Misao sighed, "Maybe a fairy stole it last night. Check the vicinity, it may be around here."

"Right!"

The two of them began looking around the shrine, hoping to find the elusive ribbon. Reimu kept her eyes on the ground, thinking it was on the ground. She came to the end of the stone path that leads to the shrine. She looked up . . . and right as rain, her ribbon was tied on the top corner of the shrine's gate.

"Huhǃ? How'd it get up thereǃ?" She found herself reaching for the ribbon, "Stupid fairies! This is their idea of funǃ? Well when I inherit the Shrine, I'm gonna start a campaign to put them in their place!"

Right then, she heard her aunt gasp, "Oh my goodness! Reimu, you're . . . you're . . ."

"I'm what?" Reimu tried to fill in. Her ribbon was in her hand, and she just noticed that her feet weren't touching the ground.

"YOU'RE FLYING!"

"HUHǃ?" Reimu just noticed that in her frustration, she flew to the top of the gate to retrieve her ribbon. "I'm weightless!" She started rotating in 360 degrees of freedom, and came closer to Misao, "Look! You're upside down, eh heh heh!" She giggled while flying with her feet pointed to the sky. She flew up and down, but not too far from the shrine. She eventually settled down on the roof. "Come up here!" She commanded.

Misao floated up to the roof. "I knew you could it!" She tightly embraced her niece, "I knew you could fly! You've finally fulfilled one of the requirements for succeeding me!"

Reimu's cheeks were red, and her face was instinctively forming a smile, "It's so easy!" She declared, "Flying is so easy!"

Misao released Reimu and told her, "I'm so proud of you!" She then remembered something she heard somewhere about motivating someone without them knowing they were being motivated.

* * *

Not far from the shrine, Reimu and Misao were flying several meters off the ground. They had their gohei rods in hand, as well as what looked like white cards with symbols printed on them. Misao said, "Now it's time to test just how effective these cards really are. You go first, Reimu. I'll take the brunt in case these aren't effective."

Reimu nodded. She held a card between her index and middle fingers and held it in front of her face. She shouted, "Divine Arts: Demon Binding Circle!" A bright flash blinded both her and her aunt. Reimu was unharmed, but Misao was thrown back.

The older shrine maiden reoriented herself in mid-air. "Whew! That almost knocked the wind out of me!"

Reimu smiled, "Almost. You didn't seem as affected by that as when I did that to Marisa when I first fought her, so I think the spellcards work!"

Misao leered, "Oh, I'm not so sure about that. There's something I know that you still haven't mastered yet." She drew a card of her own and yelled, "Divine Spirit: Fantasy Orb!" A large number of round shots orbited Misao, each of them in a different primary color. One by one, they shot off toward Reimu, and each one connecting. Reimu felt the sting of each hit, but oddly enough, it didn't hurt that much.

"Ha! You're gonna have to try harder than that!" She drew another card, "Jewel Sign: Concealed Orbs of Light!" A large number of yin-yang orbs appeared around Misao, bouncing about and striking about.

As she was pelted by the orbs, she taunted while ignoring the attack, "Oh, of course! Make use of a spellcard only someone with the Yin-Yang orbs could produce! Sure, I may've trusted you to the orbs early on, but let's see you do _this!_" She drew a card and commanded, "Fantasy Heaven!"

Reimu became disturbed by what she heard, "W-Whatǃ?"

Seven glowing yin-yang orbs orbited Misao. Then, without warning, countless o-fuda cards shot out in every direction imaginable. Reimu screamed like, well, like a little girl before the onslaught swallowed her up. Once the deluge ended, she ended up crashing on the ground. She was hurt, like she had been slightly bruised all over, but not too badly. Misao flew above her, smiling like someone who was gloating, "You see, you still have much to learn."

Reimu, feeling lightheaded by the attack, murmured, "Why'd you do something like thatǃ?"

Misao threw her arms out, "What? I wouldn't have done that if I hadn't modified the spell for spellcard use. You really think I'd subject my pupil and niece to that kind of abuse?"

Reimu started to fly up to Misao's level, "I guess not." She then smiled, "Let's duel again!"

* * *

Misao had finished putting the custom-made robe on Reimu. She was no longer wearing a miko robe, but now an ordinary brown dress. Reimu's robe was a unique one, one wherein the sleeves were detached from the robes. She still had a large red ribbon in her hair, but now she also had what looked like two small ponytails coming down the sides of her head, in addition to the larger ponytail coming down her back.

"Well, this is it, Reimu." Misao said with resignation, "You're now the head shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine. All of the responsibilities fall on you now, at least until your own successor is born, but first," She glanced in a certain direction, "Why don't you go to the village and tell everyone of your accomplishment? I'm sure your mom and dad and sister would be very happy to see you in those robes."

Reimu answered, "Okay." As she turned away, she stopped herself, "Aunt Misao, is it okay for a kid to watch over the Shrine by herself?"

Misao answered, "Well of course! I succeeded when I was your age, and keep in mind, in olden times, humans didn't live past the age of 30!"

"Eeesh!" Reimu enunciated, "Well, I'm be going to tell everyone the good news." She then took to the air and flew into the Human Village.

* * *

In the village, a presentation was taking place outside. Alice was putting on a puppet show for a small crowd. Two dolls that looked like fairies were in front of the stage.

The first fairy said, "And so, peace has been restored throughout the land!"

The second fairy added, "Yes! Let us join together and celebrate our good fortune!"

The two fairies flew off the stage. Alice stood in front and told the crowd, "Thank you for watching." She bowed, "I hoped you enjoyed my show."

The crowd applauded, then dispersed as Alice was putting away her belongings. As she was packing up, Marisa appeared with a book in hand, "Another show well done?"

Alice answered, "Yes." She glanced at the book, "That's not stolen, is it?"

Marisa became flushed, "Of course not! I wouldn't be dumb enough to steal this in broad daylight!"

Alice giggled, "Wow! You're so stupid! You just admitted to being a thief!"

Marisa stumbled, " . . . Maybe, but I didn't steal this!" She then changed the subject, "That's not what I'm here for. I thought I'd let you know, I'm not gonna stay in the village forever."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I read in some books that in Gensokyo, unlike the rest of the world, kids can go living off on their own if they feel like it. Reimu is, and I want to too, in the Forest of Magic no less!"

Alice asked, "Really? Won't your family miss you?"

Marisa stated, "Of course not! I'll still come to the village every now and then, it's just that, some of the things I collect are only in the forest, and if I had a base of operations there . . . also, I won't have to worry about hurting bystanders in the forest, should one of my spells misfire."

"That's true." Alice then saw a grim vision of Marisa leveling a good chunk of the village with the Master Spark, with her emerging from her house covered in soot, muttering _oops._ Alice thought to herself that Marisa's idea was most definitely in everyone's best interests.

"Well, I can't stick around; I got another book to study!" Marisa turned around and walked off, "Bye!"

Alice waved back. The idea of living alone in the Forest of Magic suddenly didn't sound strange, despite coming from the mouth of a hyperactive girl in a witch costume.


	20. Chapter 20

Four years had passed since the day Mima, Yumeko, and Shinki seemingly vanished off of the face of the Earth. It was currently the afternoon, and during this afternoon, Reimu was doing what she normally did; sitting on the steps into the shrine and sipping tea from a cup in her hands. At that moment, she was interrupted. Something made an impact on the pathway to the Shrine. Someone came from the sky and landed with forward momentum. The person landing had to run forward a few steps, just to avoid falling. Eventually, the broomstick the person rode on came to a step. That someone was wearing a black dress with a white petticoat and a black pointy hat. Reimu knew who it was, "Hi Marisa!"

Marisa responded, "What's up, ze?"

Reimu glanced at the witch. "Nothing new. So, how long have you've been living in the Forest of Magic? It seems like it's been a year now."

Marisa corrected her, "Not a year, ten months. Learn to count!"

Reimu said, "I _can_ count, for your information. It's just hard for me to keep track of the times. Days become weeks, ya know? By the way, how do you even survive in a place like that? It's gotta be dangerous all the time."

Marisa answered, "Not really. I get help from Rinnosuke, and Alice. And you, of course!" She then drew what looked like white cards, "These are a real lifesaver! I can't thank you enough for making these!"

Reimu said, "Oh yes. By the way, you mentioned Alice, how is she?"

The blonde girl stated, "She's a lot more stable since that day. Instead of trying to kill me one hundred percent of the time, she only tries to kill me twenty percent of the time now!"

Reimu formed a wicked grin on her face and muttered, "Heh. Knowing how irritating you are, I'd say that's a big improvement for her."

Marisa suddenly appeared right behind the shrine maiden, with a wicked grin of her own, and murmured, "Say that again, ya red-and-white snotball."

Reimu then went back to a more normal smile and replied, "Oh, there's no point in repeating the obvious." She then looked a little more serious, "Then again, that day when your mistress disappeared, that was over four years ago. Are you still hurt from then?"

Marisa, in a rare moment of seriousness, replied, "Mima-sama was my best friend. I still feel a big gap in my heart since then. I still have hope, though. No one's found her body, so maybe she's still alive."

Reimu reassured her, "She was pretty strong. Granted, we could best her with our bullet patterns, but she was a tough customer. She wouldn't die for just anyone, not even a goddess from Makai."

Marisa continued, "Uh huh. I like to think that she's hiding somewhere, biding her time. She's waiting for everyone to think that she's dead, only in the past, just a memory. When everyone's forgotten about her, then she'll return, and she'll finally conquer Gensokyo, just to prove them wrong."

Reimu was nodding her head in agreement, "That actually sounds like something she would really do."

Marisa added, "I could picture her right now, laughing in that noble manner." She began to impersonate Mima's voice, "A ha ha ha ha! Those foolish Gensokyans must think I died in vain! How sad of an error of judgment! Why, once I have mastered the Hidden Forbidden Artes of Mystique and Powerfulness, I shall return and show them that I, The Great Mima, deserve my rightful place as the ruler of all of Gensokyo, as I was always meant to become! Oh ho ho ho ho ho!"

Reimu and Marisa were experiencing fits of giggles. Reimu managed to enunciate, "It's like she's right here!"

Marisa, in between her laughter, managed to say, "I know!"

Reimu then asked, "Hey Marisa, don't you think it's odd how we're both from the Village, and yet now we live away from the Village, especially since everyone else in both of our families live there? And also how you, me, and Alice were all born just a few months apart? Don't you find that to be a strange coincidence?"

Marisa boasted, "Not at all! In fact, successful witches strike it out on their own at the age of 13!"

Reimu tilted her head, "You're lying again, aren't you?"

Marisa waved her heads, "No, seriously! I read it in a book! Good witches strike it out on their own by the time they're 13! It just goes to show how good Alice and I are!"

Reimu sighed, "Whatever you say."

* * *

Somewhere within the Forest of Magic, a cottage lay within a clearing of the forest. It was a basic one-story house, with white walls, a blue roof, and brown trimming, though the bedroom was in an adjacent two-story addition to the house. Inside the house was a beautifully furnished room, lined with completed dolls, books, and supplies for building dolls. Alice was sitting near a desk, with a doll facing her. Her hands had strings attached to them. She was holding a conversation with the doll, "So you want to know what I want to do, more than anything else, Shanghai?"

The doll said in Alice's falsetto voice, "Yes! Please do tell, Alice!"

Alice told the doll, "I want to make a doll that can act entirely on its own, without strings or anything else holding it up."

The doll said back, "Reallyǃ? That sounds amazing! But, why would you want to do something like that?"

Alice smiled, "I'm glad you asked, Shanghai! You see, I've lost people in my life, people very important to me. I feel that if I could make a doll that can act and think on its own like a human or a youkai, that then I could build replacements of all the people I love to replace them!"

The doll said, "Aww~, that's very sweet of you, Alice! I hope you succeed!"

Alice replied, "Yes, I hope so, too."

With her resolve strengthened, Alice went to work on her new goal.

* * *

Elsewhere in Gensokyo, a debate was brewing.

A calm voice said, "But my lady, such a thing is outrageous."

A younger, more childish voice responded, "Well I don't care! I tire of not being able to leave the mansion whenever I want. Why should the arrival and departure of the Sun determine when I can and can't leave? Well come next sunrise, I will put to practice that spell Patchouli has been working on and teaching me so that I may finally act on my own whims whenever I see fit, and you will agree to this, whether you want to or not."

The first voice said, "If Patchouli has agreed to it, then so shall I. Excuse me, my lady."

It was the beginning of a new era in Gensokyo.

[Author's note: Wow. I did it. I actually did it. I rewrote a good chunk of the PC-98 era of the Touhou Project. Granted, I took a few liberties here and there, but I finally did it. It took me nearly 17 months to finish, but it was worth it. With that said, I didn't do this all by myself. I had help. It's only appropriate that I now give thanks to those that helped me make Mentor and Protege.

Thank you Usually Dead, for showing me that good Touhou fanfics can exist in the English-speaking fanbase. I was inspiring to your level when I wrote Mentor & Protege. I may not have been as descriptive nor as edgy as you, but you were a major influence nonetheless.

Thank you 7TC7 of youtube, for your videos on the PC-98 Touhou games. They were invaluable in my research, since I could not get the games to work properly on my computer.

Thank you Heraklinios, for standing by me and supporting me even when I was blocked while writing Mentor & Protege.

Thank you MaxKnight10101, for also standing by me and supporting me.

Thank you Doujinstyle, for giving me a place to talk about Touhou.

Thank you Maidens of the Kaleidoscope, for also giving me a place to discuss Touhou.

Thank you Gensokyo dot org, for your doujin downloads. They helped stir inspiration within me during the droughts of imagination I had while writing Mentor and Protege.

Thank you Touhou Wiki, for research on the characters and settings of Touhou. I know I'm addressing a website whose content could be easily altered by a user, but I will say that no self-respecting Touhou fanficcer should write without constant access to the wiki.

Thank you tvtropes, for your research on Touhou in general, and especially the information provided in the alternate Touhou character interpretation threads.

Thank you Fanfiction dot net, for giving me a place to host Mentor & Protege, even if you do screw up my formatting occasionally.

Thank you, ZUN, for creating the Touhou Project, and without you, this obviously wouldn't exist. None of these characters (save for at least one OC of mine) are originally mine, and neither is Gensokyo. Don't worry; I won't make a profit off of this. I respect you too much to even think of doing such a thing.

Thank you to anyone who has read Mentor & Protege in its entirety. You played the most important role in the creation of this fanfiction by doing so.]


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